Creating out of not knowing: Maya Gelfman at TEDxTelAvivWomen
The speaker asserts that her new exhibition, *Creating Out of Love Knowing*, is an experiment in letting intuition guide artistic creation rather than planning, demonstrating this through her intentional focus on sensory engagement (touch, sound, sight, smell, taste) to keep her attention present. The exhibition, comprising 11 paintings and one installation, represented a successful, spontaneous cycle built from embracing the unknown and trusting gut feelings. The central lesson learned is that remaining open to randomness and sensory input makes both artistic process and life itself more interesting.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker: Unnamed artist presenting her new solo exhibition.
- Context: The lecture serves as an explanation/theory behind the creation of her new solo exhibition.
## Theses & Positions
- *Creating out of love knowing* is an experimental process.
- The artistic method advocated is "creative to not knowing," which means venturing into a journey without a map, guided purely by intuition.
- Artistic work should reflect the feeling of endless potential and possibilities associated with the unknown.
- True artistic process requires staying in the present moment and accepting that new concepts are undefined and cannot be planned ahead.
- The process of art-making should integrate all five senses (touch, sound, sight, smell, taste) to maintain an "authentic" and ever-changing attention.
- The most valuable takeaways from the process are the moments when the speaker felt most true to herself, specifically when she was "afraid of the unknown but willing to go with [her] gut feeling."
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Creating out of love knowing:** The name of the exhibition/experimental process.
- **Creative to not knowing:** The guiding philosophy of the experiment; venturing into a journey without a map and letting intuition lead.
- **Endless potential and possibilities:** The desired state reflected in the art, representing uncertainty.
- **Novelty in Art:** Defined as something the speaker "hasn't met yet," meaning it cannot be expected or predicted.
- **Attention:** Must be maintained without trying to control it, focusing on the "here and now."
- **White noise:** Unwanted, distracting inputs that the speaker is trying to filter out when concentrating seriously.
- **Authentic attention:** The sensory inputs that break through the "white noise" and make the experience ever-changing rather than repetitive.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Process of Exhibition Creation:** The artist planned to create something surprising to challenge herself, reflecting the feeling of the unknown.
- **Process Limitation:** Previous work methods (e.g., 300,000 wolf strings, making 2000 tiny holes) were too monotonous or structured.
- **Sensory Incorporation Mechanism:** The process relies on actively directing attention through the senses:
- **Touch:** Feeling the pencil between fingers, or the texture of paper under the arm; walking while embroidering.
- **Sound:** Connecting self-generated sounds to an internal, rhythmic tune to remain "in tune with."
- **Sight:** Moving focus between large compositions and small details, observing the play of light and shadows throughout the day.
- **Smell and Taste:** Used to evoke "long lost memories or strong reactions."
- **Attention Regulation:** Moving the point of view by closing the eyes briefly and looking back at the painting with "new eyes."
## Timeline & Sequence
- **End of 2013:** A gallery owner approached the speaker, stating she wanted to exhibit her new solo exhibition.
- **Before the Talk:** The speaker threw away all notes and planning to create the talk "on the fly."
- **Exhibition Opening:** The speaker's exhibition opened two weeks prior to the lecture.
## Named Entities
- **Gallery owner:** Individual who approached the speaker at the end of 2013 regarding the exhibition.
## Numbers & Data
- **Number of paintings:** 11.
- **Number of installations:** 1.
## Examples & Cases
- **Wolf strings:** Tying 300,000 wolf strings one by one over several months.
- **Paper perforation:** Making 2000 tiny holes in a sheet of paper.
- **Embroidery:** Walking in half a circle around a sheet of paper while embroidering, pushing threads on one side and pulling from the other repeatedly.
- **The Exhibition:** Composed of 11 paintings and 1 installation that worked "for themselves" but together formed a bigger picture.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Pencil:** Used for drawing; attention paid to the feeling of it between the fingers.
- **Paper:** Medium for drawing and embroidery; attention paid to its texture under the arm.
- **Embroidery materials:** Threads and needles used in the circular process.
## References Cited
- None.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Traditional Art Process:** Described as too structured, allowing for repetitive or monotonous outcomes.
- **Novelty Approach:** Embracing the "unknown" means foregoing the ability to plan or analyze the final image in advance.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The initial habit of planning and writing out sentences was viewed as energy-sapping and contrary to the goal.
- The internal tendency when trying to be serious was to approach the task with a "frown," which the speaker contrasted with the genuine engagement offered by sensory awareness.
## Methodology
- The methodology employed for the new work is sensory immersion: actively directing attention using the five senses (touch, sound, sight, smell, taste).
- The goal is to maintain continuous, present attention rather than achieving a single, perfect conceptual outcome.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The goal of the process is not just to have fun, but to continue embracing randomness.
- The speaker recommends allowing randomness to generate countless new possibilities in both art and life.
## Implications & Consequences
- Art derived from embracing the unknown validates the idea that process, more than concept, shapes the outcome.
- A life lived by "gut feeling" and trust in intuition leads to personal growth and new perspectives.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I've been spending all my time and energy on trying to remember and pronounce correctly in this language english."*
- *"The name of the experiment was creating out of love knowing."*
- *"creative to not knowing is venturing in a journey without having a map and just letting my intuition lead the way."*
- *"my artistic process is the longings different thing my works take months to complete."*
- *"I just needed to stay in the present an interception was supposed to reveal themselves along the way guided by intuition."*
- *"I have a toolbox I could try and use my senses."*
- *"I'm literally walking around in half a circle around this sheet of paper pushing the layoffs on one side and pull it from the from the other again and again."*
- *"I saw it a little differently with new eyes and its freshen up my point of view."*
- *"I learned something new about myself like an ability I did nothing have or something new about the subject i'm dealing with or even if i just learned a new way to look at something familiar and not experiencing it in an automatic way."*
- *"I do believe that as long as I'm willing to let that randomness in I'm facing countless new possibilities."*