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The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing
From former editor of New York magazine Adam Moss, a collection of illuminating conversations examining the very personal, rigorous, complex, and elusive work of making art
What is the work of art? In this guided tour inside the artist’s head, Adam Moss traces the evolution of transcendent novels, paintings, jokes, movies, songs, and more. Weaving conversations with some of the most accomplished artists of our time together with the journal entries, napkin doodles, and sketches that were their tools, Moss breaks down the work—the tortuous paths and artistic decisions—that led to great art. From first glimmers to second thoughts, roads not taken, crises, breakthroughs, on to one triumphant finish after another.
Featuring: Kara Walker, Tony Kushner, Roz Chast, Michael Cunningham, Moses Sumney, Sofia Coppola, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Meiselas, Louise Glück, Maria de Los Angeles, Nico Muhly, Thomas Bartlett, Twyla Tharp, John Derian, Barbara Kruger, David Mandel, Gregory Crewdson, Marie Howe, Gay Talese, Cheryl Pope, Samin Nosrat, Joanna Quinn & Les Mills, Wesley Morris, Amy Sillman, Andrew Jarecki, Rostam, Ira Glass, Simphiwe Ndzube, Dean Baquet & Tom Bodkin, Max Porter, Elizabeth Diller, Ian Adelman / Calvin Seibert, Tyler Hobbs, Marc Jacobs, Grady West (Dina Martina), Will Shortz, Sheila Heti, Gerald Lovell, Jody Williams & Rita Sodi, Taylor Mac & Machine Dazzle, David Simon, George Saunders, Suzan-Lori Parks
What is the work of art? In this guided tour inside the artist’s head, Adam Moss traces the evolution of transcendent novels, paintings, jokes, movies, songs, and more. Weaving conversations with some of the most accomplished artists of our time together with the journal entries, napkin doodles, and sketches that were their tools, Moss breaks down the work—the tortuous paths and artistic decisions—that led to great art. From first glimmers to second thoughts, roads not taken, crises, breakthroughs, on to one triumphant finish after another.
Featuring: Kara Walker, Tony Kushner, Roz Chast, Michael Cunningham, Moses Sumney, Sofia Coppola, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Meiselas, Louise Glück, Maria de Los Angeles, Nico Muhly, Thomas Bartlett, Twyla Tharp, John Derian, Barbara Kruger, David Mandel, Gregory Crewdson, Marie Howe, Gay Talese, Cheryl Pope, Samin Nosrat, Joanna Quinn & Les Mills, Wesley Morris, Amy Sillman, Andrew Jarecki, Rostam, Ira Glass, Simphiwe Ndzube, Dean Baquet & Tom Bodkin, Max Porter, Elizabeth Diller, Ian Adelman / Calvin Seibert, Tyler Hobbs, Marc Jacobs, Grady West (Dina Martina), Will Shortz, Sheila Heti, Gerald Lovell, Jody Williams & Rita Sodi, Taylor Mac & Machine Dazzle, David Simon, George Saunders, Suzan-Lori Parks
- GenresNonfictionArtWriting
432 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 27, 2024
It’s a struggle for me not to use superlatives in describing this book. Adam Moss’s background as a magazine editor (New York) shows: he’s collected here a series of interviews with artists of all kinds, many famous and well-known (to me: Kara Walker, Sofia Coppola, Michael Cunningham, LOUISE GLÜCK, Ira Glass, Max Porter, Sheila Heti, Suzan-Lori Parks), and many others less so. The raison d’être of the book is to delve into the creative process: What makes art? From the initial idea (and how does that happen?), the God-spark, through the process of translating that, to the final work, Moss has tried to get these creatives to break down what happens, with mixed results (spoiler: there’s a lot of mystery involved).
Anyone who does creative work is interested in the processes of others, particularly those who’ve found success. Do they wake up early? Are there rituals? Do they drink coffee? How do they hear from God? Was there a lightning strike? How did they know what to add, what to remove (edit), when to stop? All of these questions make for fascinating answers, and just as interesting is what creatives think about how they came up with the work. Moss has also got each artist to dig up visual archives, included in the book: notes, scribbles, anything that tracks the progress to finished work. It’s amazing to see.
Outstanding. Very highly recommended: a stunning book, that you’ll want to go back to over and over if you’re a creative yourself. But also: one of the reasons the book gets five stars from me? It starts and finishes with profiles of Black women.
My grateful thanks to Penguin and to NetGalley for early access.
Anyone who does creative work is interested in the processes of others, particularly those who’ve found success. Do they wake up early? Are there rituals? Do they drink coffee? How do they hear from God? Was there a lightning strike? How did they know what to add, what to remove (edit), when to stop? All of these questions make for fascinating answers, and just as interesting is what creatives think about how they came up with the work. Moss has also got each artist to dig up visual archives, included in the book: notes, scribbles, anything that tracks the progress to finished work. It’s amazing to see.
Outstanding. Very highly recommended: a stunning book, that you’ll want to go back to over and over if you’re a creative yourself. But also: one of the reasons the book gets five stars from me? It starts and finishes with profiles of Black women.
My grateful thanks to Penguin and to NetGalley for early access.
May 21, 2024
So much of happiness, it turned out, is anticipation.
"Because the best times," he said, "are while you're working on it, you're still imagining what it might be. And it feels like it could be anything." (Michael Cunningham)
"Because the best times," he said, "are while you're working on it, you're still imagining what it might be. And it feels like it could be anything." (Michael Cunningham)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews