Reaction to Abstract: Christoph Niemann

First off, I must say that this documentary is beautifully made, capturing the incredible mind and brilliant art of Christoph Niemann. The documentary episode really proved to share several inspirational ideas. As an artist, the creative process can be one of the major killers of any project. In fact, that beginning creative process is where a lot of ideas come to die. But, I was inspired by one line that Niemann said:

“I sit and wait for crazy moments to happen.”

That quote is just absolutely brilliant, but it also shares a crucial skill that artists must hold–patience. Personally, I struggle with having patience. It’s difficult for me to sit and stare at a blank sheet of paper and wait for an idea to appear, nor do I have the patience to continue on, going from idea to idea, until I’ve finally reached something good. But, hey, I’m working on it.

While watching this episode of the Abstract series, I loved the idea of his work time strictly being 9:00–6:00. That idea was weaved into the beginning and end, with Niemann abruptly ending his work for the day as soon as the clock struck 6pm. I think it’s extremely important for artists to have structure like this, and I love how well he’s implemented it. It’s difficult, especially as a freelancer or an gig-by-gig artist, to set a routine. Work can often get carried until the early hours of a new day, and honestly great ideas don’t often come out of those hours.

I also enjoyed Niemann’s analysis of his own work. Another quote that I enjoyed was when he said,

“Some people love it. Some people probably don’t. That’s life.”

Not everyone is going to enjoy everything. But for the same amount of those who don’t, there will be people who will. As an artist, it is challenging to receive negative comments. But, at the end of the day, some people will love it, and some people won’t, and that’s okay.