In the chap­ter titled “Try Every­thing,” the author delves into the unpre­dictable, often chaot­ic nature of cre­ativ­i­ty, empha­siz­ing the vital role that exper­i­men­ta­tion plays in the artis­tic jour­ney. It con­trasts the every­day pre­dictabil­i­ty of log­i­cal tasks—like per­form­ing basic arith­metic or mix­ing sim­ple colors—with the exhil­a­rat­ing, yet uncer­tain, out­comes that arise when artists com­bine ideas, medi­ums, and con­cepts in new ways. In the world of art, a con­cept that seems promis­ing in the mind may not always man­i­fest as expect­ed, and con­verse­ly, what ini­tial­ly appears unre­mark­able may turn into some­thing far more mean­ing­ful once it is explored in prac­tice. This chap­ter rein­forces the idea that the gap between the ini­tial con­cept and its actu­al real­iza­tion is often filled with uncer­tain­ty and sur­prise, which is an inher­ent part of the cre­ative process. This unpre­dictabil­i­ty is not some­thing to fear but to embrace, as it serves as the dri­ving force behind inno­va­tion and progress in art.

The chap­ter encour­ages a shift away from the fear of fail­ure and instead advo­cates for an open-mind­ed approach to explor­ing every idea, no mat­ter how small or seem­ing­ly unim­por­tant. The author sug­gests that artists should not dis­miss poten­tial con­cepts with­out giv­ing them the chance to be test­ed in action. Engag­ing in a process of questioning—asking “what if?” and push­ing ideas beyond their boundaries—opens up fresh avenues for explo­ration. This approach becomes par­tic­u­lar­ly valu­able in col­lab­o­ra­tive envi­ron­ments, where dif­fer­ent cre­ative per­spec­tives inter­sect and com­pete. In these set­tings, pre­dict­ing the final out­come of each idea can be chal­leng­ing, and ver­bal dis­cus­sions may not ful­ly cap­ture the essence of what each artist envi­sions. Mov­ing beyond just talk­ing and turn­ing ideas into tan­gi­ble demon­stra­tions or mod­els allows for clear­er com­mu­ni­ca­tion and bet­ter under­stand­ing. By phys­i­cal­ly demon­strat­ing ideas, artists and col­lab­o­ra­tors are more like­ly to see how con­cepts can evolve and trans­form, thus enhanc­ing the over­all cre­ative process.

More­over, the chap­ter stress­es that exper­i­men­ta­tion is not a lin­ear path, and the sur­pris­es that come with it should be wel­comed rather than resist­ed. A key mes­sage is that fail­ure should not be viewed neg­a­tive­ly; instead, it should be seen as a valu­able learn­ing expe­ri­ence that pro­vides cru­cial insights. Far from being a set­back, fail­ure helps shape the cre­ative process by reveal­ing what does­n’t work, guid­ing artists toward what does. The abil­i­ty to embrace fail­ure is a pow­er­ful tool that fuels the cre­ative spir­it, encour­ag­ing artists to take risks, explore new pos­si­bil­i­ties, and grow from each attempt. What might appear as a set­back or mis­take often lays the ground­work for new per­spec­tives, lead­ing to break­throughs that would­n’t have been pos­si­ble with­out those ear­li­er mis­steps. The chap­ter inspires artists to accept that not every idea will result in imme­di­ate suc­cess, but the act of exper­i­men­ta­tion is valu­able in itself. This mind­set of resilience, per­sis­tence, and will­ing­ness to adapt is what pro­pels cre­ativ­i­ty for­ward, enabling artists to con­tin­u­ous­ly evolve their work.

Addi­tion­al­ly, the chap­ter empha­sizes the impor­tance of allow­ing cre­ativ­i­ty to unfold nat­u­ral­ly, with­out try­ing to force it into pre­de­fined molds or con­straints. By step­ping away from rigid expec­ta­tions, artists can let their work breathe and evolve on its own terms, lead­ing to authen­tic, unex­pect­ed out­comes. This process of dis­cov­ery is not only about find­ing the right final prod­uct but also about enjoy­ing the jour­ney of cre­ation. The act of try­ing, test­ing, and explor­ing is what makes the cre­ative process so enrich­ing and dynam­ic. Instead of focus­ing sole­ly on the end result, the artist is encour­aged to appre­ci­ate the per­son­al growth, new skills, and insights gained along the way. In doing so, they learn to cel­e­brate the unpre­dictable nature of cre­ativ­i­ty, see­ing it as an adven­ture that con­tin­u­ous­ly chal­lenges and rewards them. Ulti­mate­ly, the chap­ter serves as a reminder that art is about the explo­ration of ideas and the joy of dis­cov­ery, rather than the pur­suit of per­fec­tion or imme­di­ate val­i­da­tion. It is this will­ing­ness to embrace uncer­tain­ty and to keep exper­i­ment­ing that fos­ters true cre­ative free­dom and leads to the cre­ation of tru­ly remark­able art.