When is a work “finished”?

You always want to push the work to its limits – to make it as good as it possibly can be – but you don’t usually know where that is. The only time you really know when a work is finished is when it is too late - that is, after you have pushed it too far and it has lost its magic. The trick is to stop before it’s too late.

When I push a work, I choose between two approaches. The first is to embellish the work on its own terms without changing its fundamental presence or direction. The second is to remake the work by moving it from its fundamental presence. This approach is used when you have lost interest or hope in its current direction.

– 8/10/2004