On Why Artists Can Break the Rules

I was talking with John the other day about the relationship between science and art. I suggested that in both cases taking risks and being creative is necessary. Although for both there are certain rules that need to be followed, to grow beyond what we already know or have created we need to be curious, take some risks, and even break some rules.

Science as a tool for discovery requires curiosity, exploration, and a particular set of rules used to home in on the details of the information being educed. Nevertheless, some willingness to bend or shift the rules, albeit in a standardized manner, is necessary sometimes, such as in experimental science, which is often about “what happens if we do this?” Even so, to recreate the event and not record it as a fluke, other scientists must replicate the original experiment exactly. New information is discovered by gradually changing variables and checking the results along the way.

A lot of art and creativity doesn’t necessitate adherence to the rules. Artistic expression depends on what the goal is for the individual artist rather than a standardized body of study. It’s true that some art genres have strict rules. That art can be created almost scientifically using rigorous patterns, techniques, and styles. For instance, to make traditional quilts that are to be juried, there are a specific set of criteria that must be adhered to in order to qualify.

Juried competitions and specific genres aside, creative artists will often work in a series. If I make the same art quilt repeatedly using the same techniques, fabrics, dimensions, etc., I will generally get the same results. I can then make measured changes in those factors along the way. In fact, working in a series with gradual variations is how I started developing my skills.

Yet for many artists, their desire is not to replicate their experiences exactly as scientists do, but rather to find new ways to express ideas. Perhaps that is the ultimate deviation between art and science: whereas science is searching to explain what is there, much in art is looking to explore what isn’t.