The Creative Arc

There are four active stages in an arc of artistic creativity:

Observation, Imitation, Transformation, Presentation

• I study the world.
• I learn to reproduce what I have seen.
• I simplify it, I exaggerate it, I distort it, I re-combine it, I re-invent it.
• Finally I offer it to an audience.

The amount of emphasis placed on each of these stages varies from acting style to acting style. Method acting emphasises the first two, Musicals the last, and Mask work the third.

Reflection is the passive component that can connect both ends of the arc and turn it into a circle.