How do you know when a piece of work is finished?

Originally asked

The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series

A repeated process question in The Creative Independent, asked across visual art, music, writing, performance, and mixed media.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Koho Yamamoto said elsewhere, not written here
Well, I feel it. If I don’t feel it just the way I want it, then I’d rather destroy it than to keep it.

Amanda Millet-Sorsa, Koho Yamamoto with Amanda Millet-Sorsa, The Brooklyn Rail, 1 April 2022 source ↗

Others on this question

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Usually I’m overcome with sadness and fear, actually. And when I have that feeling where the bottom drops out of things, I know that it’s done.
Recorded Maddie Crum, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
David Ostrowski Abstract painter
A piece is finished when I don’t have anything more to say. My works are suggestions and I tend to create series of works to avoid routine. Of course I test every painting for its legitimacy. Worst case the canvas gets torn, painted or pasted over.
Recorded Julian Brimmers, The Creative Independent, 15 March 2018 source ↗
Marissa Zappas Perfumer and writer
I think it’s similar to writing a poem, in a way. It’s almost like, when there’s nothing left to remove from the formula, it’s done. Or honestly just when I get tired of working on it, that’s real.
Recorded Shy Watson, The Creative Independent, 25 November 2022 source ↗
Tabita Rezaire Video and new-media artist and yoga teacher
Often it’s the deadline, to be really honest. Also, research is my favorite part. I could just research forever. But then I actually need to produce. Maybe that’s why the offering part is so beautiful, because each offering/performance is different because it’s a different time, it’s a different space, and I’m a different person. Each day you’re a different person, and because the people you’re doing this with are also different, the work changes. Maybe you’ve found something else that inspired you, so you add it and let the work grow. It grows infinitely, alongside you. With video, it’s set, so it’s harder to add to it even if sometimes you’re kind of like, “Oh my god, I would love to add this.” With embodied practice it’s easier. It grows with me. That’s something I love, especially because my research never ends. It’s ever evolving.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent, 16 February 2023 source ↗

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