Beyond the obvious

Interesting art is new and different from everything that has gone before. It's impossible to break new ground and produce something fresh if you follow the rules and imitate other people's styles and techniques. We all learn from the past, our mentors and the giants who have gone before us, but true art only happens when you break free from them. Don't get me wrong. I think it is valuable to study the masters and to be aware of what your contemporaries are doing but how can you ever hope to stand out if all you do is repeat stuff that's been done before? There's a big drawback to doing innovative new stuff. If you break the mould people will not immediately associate your work with stuff they've been told is good – art that follows the rules and can be neatly categorised and classified. You lose the 'recognisability' factor and you don't fit in until the rest of the world starts to catch up. However once the world does recognise your ability, yo...