Art as Process or Production? Chance, will, and the definition of success

 Leading on from the last blog (yes it was an emotionally tiring 3 hours!), another student shared an interesting comment that I am still struggling with: am I in danger of moving from 'process' to 'production'? I.e. am I moving from focusing on the process of making art, to the outcome. I find this deeply troubling, and need to explore it further in my mind and in my practice. My retort was "but I care about the outcome, not the process", and I had assumed that wouldn't be controversial. However, there is clearly a strong school of thought that the process is what counts, and that meaning and value will follow - the process is what we control, and how can we create original art if we have a fixed outcome in mind.

I need to discuss this with my tutor, the idea that art is about outcomes is fundamental to me - for me, it's self-expression from the mind, not self-expression from the body. I am starting to see that this is not a mainstream view, but giving up on it feels very wrong. Of course the destination is influenced by the process - my art rarely turns out exactly the way I envisaged, but the idea of relinquishing control feels too like play, and with an outsiders perspective, feels like introspection of the worst type. If there are no rules, how can the game be played? If there are no outcomes, is art just throwing shit against the wall and hoping it makes a shape that other people value?