Liza Desya

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

I purchased this canvas at a used book store, listed at ~~$42.00~~ $18.55 CAD. I had no clue who Rick Rubin was, but I did recognize the cover of the book, having a vague understanding of it's cultral impact on creative philosophy.

Front view photo of The Creative Act: A Way of Being, featuring a hidden person.

Side view photo of The Creative Act: A Way of Being, showing off the brightly painted yellow/blue fore-edge.

Concept

I still do not know who Rick Rubin is, because we've never met. However, as I was reading his novel, I spontaneously decided to collaborate with him, through the creation of unrestricted annotations and illustrations. These pages have been marked using yellow and blue watercolors, ballpoint pens, and sticky hidden people. Most of the work was created during long commutes on the TTC.

Middle view photo of The Creative Act: A Way of Being, revealing six hidden people stuck on the front and back pasteldown

Inside view photo of The Creative Act: A Way of Being, showing the front page painted with yellow and teal-blue splotches.

Liza's hand flipping through featured novel.

The 'Make it up' chapter, painted with a rough mandala in yellow and teal-blue

The Creative Act: A Way of Being sitting on Brody Campbell's sticky-note covered desk. — Hand action & sticky-note message by Brody Campbell

The Creative Act: A Way of Being sitting on Brody Campbell's sticky-note covered desk, with Brody Campbell's hand slapping on cover. — Hand action & sticky-note message by Brody Campbell

The Creative Act: A Way of Being, carelessly thrown on the floor.

Scans

At the end of each chapter, I made a habit of summarizing the text in my own words, condensing my thoughts into three points. It was helpful to underline any writing that stuck a sense of straightforward poignancy, or triggered relatability towards my own creative practice.

1 / 3

Scan of beginning of 'Self-doubt' chapter. Three summary notes: 1. The uncomfortable aspects of the human experience provides a greater degree of relatability and truth to artistic work. 2. Adversity is part of the path, and some mgiht choose to protect themselves. 3. By opening to the tremendous beauty and pain, an artist risks getting overwhelmed and feeling isolated in their experience. We wak a thin line between wanting to express and suppress these difficult feelings.

2 / 3

Scan of beginning of 'Look Inward' chapter. Written annotations: 'HEY! Look here. Look here. Look here. Look. Look. Look. Look. (drawn arrow) LOOK! (drawn linear mushy forms) Look. (drawn line) over. (drawn line) here. (drawn linear shapes, both sharp and squiggly) and: breathe breathe breathe breathe (drawn polaris star) and (drawn line starting strong but dissipating into nothingness) Look inward

3 / 3

Scan of beginning of 'How to choose' chapter. Page is filled with half-centimeter sized drawn polaris stars, covering every inch except for the printed text.

❮ ❯

My goal was to internalize Rick Rubin's wisdom deep into my brain, so that I could create my art at it's maximum potential. To put this knowledge into practice, I procuded stream-of-consiousness artwork directly on the pages, specifically at times when I got bored of reading the book.