Struggling with writer's block? You think you need new ideas? When people asked artist Robert Rauschenberg if he ever ran out of ideas, he said I don't run out of ideas. Everytime I have an idea, I find it too limiting. What I never run out of is curiosity. Rauschenberg never wanted to be held back by an idea of what something should look like. He said he was intrigued by irresistible possibilities of what he couldn't ignore.

Think what you're writing about is too pedestrian? Rauschenberg was dyslexic and a late bloomer-- the first time he ever saw a painting was when he was in the army during WWII. He'd never had any contact with art, growing up in Texas, but his frugal mother, who sewed his shirt from scraps of material, was a big influence. When he was a struggling artist, he pulled the quilt off his bed and used it as his canvas. "Bed" is considered a great work of art. The thing is, Rauschenberg was never afraid to try something new, critics be damned. He loved making something out of nothing. As writers, we should strive to make a commonplace setting into something fresh, or turn a cliche scene on its head.

Ever ask yourself if what you're writing is up to standards? Rauschenberg's collection "Combines"  are pieces made of found materials and paint with the addition of 3-D objects, such as the above "Bed" or "Canyon," which features a crow and a pillow. The ensuing argument over whether or not this is art reminds me of the argument about what makes something literary. Art critic Perreault said: One principle is that great artworks are iconic, and they begin that way. In an unguarded moment, an artist friend once blurted out that an artwork did not exist unless it could be photographed. My refinement would be: unless it is photogenic. But just so we don't get too wrapped up in media and Pop Art, let us finally say instead that an artwork has got to be memorable, which thereby allows conceptualist as well as predominantly visual artworks. Rauschenberg's prime Combines stick in the mind; they surprise and keep on surprising. Literary labels aside, isn't that what any good writing should do-- surprise and keep on surprising?

His work is faceted and presents multiple points of view-- not a still life, but life itself. He saw his work as an adventure and discovery, for himself, and his viewers. That I could do so much as a writer is my goal.

And this quote gives me hope when I fear what I'm writing is trash: "Screwing up is a virtue. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea." 

Robert Rauschenberg died of heart failure on Monday at age 82.         

NYT Article on Rauschenberg 

Rauschenberg's "Retroactive," one of my favorites.