“When asked how he made something as spectacular as his staue of David, Michelangelo replied: “I did not 'make David'. He was already there, inside. All I did was to chip away the parts that were not David.”
- Michelangelo
This story has several versions, but this is the phrasing that I respond to the most. “All I did...” Love that. Just that little thing that resulted in his sculpture of David, a work that took him 3 years to complete. He finished it before he was 30 (he would be 535 today, by the by...). A colossal effort, resulting in an absolute masterpiece.
I am going to assume this quote is relatively accurate, and though I admire the sense of humility that is conveyed, the sense that he was a channel, a facilitator for this work of art to come into being, I am even more intrigued by his perspective on the process. Obviously, he worked in a wide array of media, and only this particular medium lends itself so fully to this quote... there is no other form that is arrived at in quite this way. Most things are made, or built up to a degree, before there is editing, or altering, to get to your 'final draft'. I think most art is a mixture of creating and destroying, working something until it shines. In this case, you have a block of marble, where bits and chunks are consistently removed until you arrive at the shape you are trying to realize.
But this idea of removing the obstacles, of getting rid of anything that is not the final form, is truly cool. It assumes that there is a 'best version', or 'best form' for a particular work of art. I think this is true, though it is maybe rare that people can help to bring those things into existence. Perhaps, that is what we mean when we say 'masterpiece', or when we recognize that a work of art has changed the playing field irrevocably.
So too, is this idea compelling in life. If I focus on trying to make something happen, it very well may happen, I may be able to manifest my best self, my best path toward that goal. Maybe. It might come about more easily, and more fully if I make room for an additional perspective: that of getting rid of any obstacles in my life. This does not mean I am going to mow over the neighbor, because I think they might get what I want before I can - quite the contrary. It means that I have to look deep inside and get rid of the things in me that will distract or derail me. It means I have to line myself up with that best self, that best path. I have to do what I am made to do, be the person I am meant to be.
I wish there were a book where we could all just go look it up, but alas, it is more complicated than that. And maybe all the more beautiful when someone gets to that place... they create, they edit, they put in the work, and then they truly shine. If I can say this without being totally saccharine, when someone does put in the work, aim at something, and chip away the things that are not their best self, then they are, in the fullest sense of the word, a masterpiece.
Happy Birthday, Michelangelo!
the Keeper (word to think about/keep with me for a bit):
"Masterpiece” - n. 1.) a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship. 2.) an artist's or craftsman's best piece of work.
May I conistently chip away the things that are not me, the things that do not help me to realize the things I am made to do. May I work toward my best self.
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