On the Creation of Style
Every artist has a style, whether they intend to or not—it is naturally-occurring, a result of you doing anything. You can be extremely style-conscious, or it could be the furthest thing from your mind, and it will still emerge, palpable on some level to all who imbibe your work.
Let’s say you want to take a beautiful photograph of a beautiful woman. Even though that sounds like a very specific and simple goal, there are infinite ways to do that. What aspects of her beauty you choose to highlight, and what abilities of the camera and equipment you utilize, and what setting you do this all in, mean the same woman could be captured by hundreds of different photographers in vastly different ways. This is obvious information that I am telling you—we all understand what art is—but it needs to be reiterated in order to help understand how style is created, or creates itself.
Akira Kurosawa was once asked why he framed a shot in his film ‘Ran’ in a particular way—he responded, and I paraphrase: ‘well, if the camera was a little to the left you’d see the crew, and if the camera was a little to the right you’d see an airport, which wouldn’t make sense for a period film’. This is a perfect example of how style can arise from an essentially utilitarian choice—utilitarian for the artist, but not for the art. We can make choices seemingly without much artistic thought, and the art itself will pick up the slack—someone, or something, is always stepping up to the plate.
When we choose to guide our own hand, or let our hand be guided by the moment, determines our style. An artist who believes they must create from their own brain will have a more robotic or unnatural style. An artist who believes they are a vessel for their muse will have a more flowing, human style. No way is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, and most art employs a combination of both—you are rigid when you need rigidity, you are loose when you need looseness. You ‘do the robot’ or ‘belly dance’ depending on the music.
Those who focus too much on creating their own style will have a style that feels manufactured—even if it is cool-looking, it will be uncool in how ‘try hard’ it is. Those who let their style occur naturally will have a style that seemingly only they could have, and that they don’t care whether you like or not—which will naturally draw people to it. Thelonious Monk once said that “the genius is the one who is most like himself”. Notice that he does not say that genius requires intelligence—merely openness and honesty. If you want style, or if you want better style, this how to get it—not through posing, or posturing, but through baring your soul. It’s the reason why Tommy Wiseau’s The Room is an enduring work, as opposed to any number of seemingly ‘better’ movies that are just poor imitations of other people’s work. Memorability requires uniqueness—we remember the aberrations, the individuals, not the conformists. Be memorable.
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