Today is July 20 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often can you just DO instead of worrying about what others think?”
In 1960, pioneering American artists Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse met for the first time and became close friends.
Hesse was a pioneer of the postminimalist art movement of the 1960s and began suffering from creative block and self-doubt shortly after moving from New York to Germany with her husband.
She reached out to her LeWitt for counsel and consolation and he replied with a spectacular letter dated April 14, 1965.
“Dear Eva, It will be almost a month since you wrote to me and you have possibly forgotten your state of mind (I doubt it though). You seem the same as always, and being you, hate every minute of it. Don’t! Learn to say ‘Fuck You’ to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose sticking, ass-gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO!... you are not responsible for the world — you are only responsible for your work — so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be.”
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch gave a dramatic reading of LeWitt’s impassioned five-page missive, which remains the closest thing to a personal creative credo LeWitt ever committed to words in 2016.
LeWitt pleaded for Hesse to DO instead of worry about what others think. Can you?
