INVENTION IN THE MIDST
The concept of invention privileges the agency of inventor as the originator of the new, by merit of her skill and ingenuity. Invention — from venire meaning to come, or else from invenīre, to encounter. Indeed, many an invention is come upon rather than created or concocted, arrived at and not simply thought into being or made up. The inventive breakthrough can emerge from error, from accident or from chance. It can come as a flash like lightening or slow burn in its arrival, not coming for days or decades. So, wait. Wait. Sharpen one’s curiosity like the angler’s hook. Wait. Steadiness, in readiness, for the auspicious moment of kairos — of opportune time — comes without warning, is fleeting and all too easily missed. Bide one’s time yet be swift to act when called. Invention emerges from in the midst. The artist’s role is medial, navigating a sea of forces as the helmsman steers a course through, or rather with, the water and the wind. Here, the artist does not so much work her given medium, material or technique, but rather becomes a medium herself. Artist as intermediary, intervening agency in a field of other agencies. In the flux of things, artist as operative, carrier of flow. Artist as conductor, with its dual sense of directing and carrying, leading and serving. Artist as a conduit or channel through which other energies might pass, drawn forth.
From Emma Cocker, How Do You Do? (Nottingham: Beam Editions, 2023)