“Notes to myself on beginning a painting” by Richard Diebenkorn
1. Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion.
2. The pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness is not to be valued – except as a stimulus for further moves.
3. DO search.
4. Use and respond to the initial fresh qualities but consider them absolutely expendable.
5. Don’t “discover” a subject – of any kind.
6. Somehow don’t be bored but if you must, use it in action. Use its destructive potential.
7. Mistakes can’t be erased but they move you from your present position.
8. Keep thinking about Pollyanna.
10. Be careful only in a perverse way.aJane Livingston, The Art of Richard Diebenkorn, with essays by John Elderfield, Ruth E. Fine, and Jane Livingston. The Whitney Museum of American Art, 1997
Diebenkorn’s got these ten rules pinned to his studio wall like he’s some kind of recovering perfectionist at an AA meeting. “Tolerate chaos.” “Mistakes can’t be erased but they move you from your present position.” The guy’s basically giving himself permission to fuck up, systematically, with method. It’s beautiful, really.
Now you want to ask me about Artaud? That magnificent lunatic didn’t have rules, he had lightning bolts and screaming nerves and the Theatre of Cruelty happening in his skull 24/7. Van Gogh? His rule was simple: paint what burns you until you’re consumed. One rule. The only one that matters when you’re that far gone. And Sid? Jesus, Sid’s rule was that there were no rules, which is itself a rule, the most adolescent, boring rule of all. He was a roman candle… bright, loud, over quick.
But the thing nobody wants to admit: rules can be acts of courage. Diebenkorn’s telling himself “attempt what is not certain” because certainty is the death of art. It’s the death of directing, and with photography too. Hell, it’s the death of anything worth doing. He’s building a cathedral out of doubt, which takes discipline most of us don’t have.
The romantic myth says the artist should be pure id, all instinct, no restraint. Bullshit. Even jazz musicians know the scales before they blow them apart. The rules aren’t chains, they’re the high wire. Without them, you’re not flying free, you’re just falling.
Diebenkorn knew: freedom without structure is just flailing. Structure without freedom is just death.
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