Even a talking 'Meatbar' is a great idea if you 'Think Like an Artist'

In the fall of 2019, Bridget Moser performed Scream if You Want to Go Faster at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. There's a video of the performance on the Toronto-based artist's website, a post she's shared with a clarification — info that's especially helpful for an elder Millennial audience. The performance was not, in fact, a tribute to the solo career of Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell, but then, that should be obvious even without watching all the way through to the video's conclusion.

In that final scene, Moser — who stands centre stage wearing track shorts and a T-shirt labelled "Meatbar" — is surrounded by mundane objects in the same blue-and-green Frutiger Aero palette as her costume. And before the spotlight fades to black, Moser addresses the audience: "I want to show you a solution, but I have none, because there is none, just a never-ending process of trying again. So, try again."

It's pretty much the definition of being alive, but the line could just as well apply to the matter of making art. How does anyone compose the perfect story — or painting or performance? Creating is just a "never-ending process of trying again," and there's no such thing as "one weird trick" that'll deliver magic every time. 

That said, there's something to be learned from the whole ordeal of making something, and in a new digital project, CBC Arts has collected dozens of insightful lessons from some of the country's most well-respected talents, including Moser, a former Sobey Art Award finalist who's acclaimed for her work in performance and video. 

What happens when a great artist can't find inspiration? What do they do when their synapses go on strike? You'll find the answers in CBC Arts: Think Like An Artist, an interactive tool that could help you unlock your imagination.

How does anyone get a great idea? "Maybe as artists we don't talk about this enough," Moser tells CBC Arts. Inspiration isn't random, she says. "You have to work at it, and it's a practice."

That work is especially difficult when you're stuck for ideas, and when that happens to Moser, she applies this strategy. It's advice you can use to Think Like An Artist.

"Brainstorm a list of the most bizarre, confounding or foolish images, gestures or statements that you have yet to encounter in this world. Follow the path from the one you like best."

How often does she follow her own advice?

"I would say this thought comes into play at least once for every thing that I make," says Moser, laughing. And to keep track of all her ideas — bizarre and otherwise — the artist keeps a paper notebook handy. "The majority of my practice is based in brainstorming," she says, and that involves a lot of lists: making lists, editing lists — and then repeating those steps as necessary. 

"The material that comes from it is not necessarily always usable," she notes. Her "keep" rate is usually two per cent. But the ideas she highlights could launch a new project. 

Moser's approach to creating a performance often begins with a "collecting" phase. She'll assemble text, audio, objects — shaggy bath mats and pool noodles. What could she possibly do with all that stuff? That's where list-making becomes helpful. Here's an example of how she put her method to use during the making of Scream If You Want to Go Faster.

What's the most bizarre thing she could do with a T-shirt?

"I have this Meatbar brand T-shirt that a friend found at a thrift store," says Moser. For the unfamiliar: it's a discontinued protein bar made of, well, meat. 

"I love this kind of stupid product. It's one of these things that shouldn't exist in the world. In fact, it now doesn't because no one wanted it," Moser laughs. 

But she wanted it. And when Moser is in the collecting phase of a new project, she'll ask herself a few questions. "What do I want to see, as a viewer? What makes me excited as a viewer? One aspect of that is something that is confounding or bizarre or foolish — or has no good reason to exist."

The Meatbar T-shirt checked all of those boxes, but how would she use it? If she included it in a new piece, it probably wouldn't appear in another project again. "I have to get the best material possible out of this because I'm likely not going to revisit it," she says. To guide her brainstorming session, she asked herself this: "How do I engage with this in as many ways as possible?"

There are thoughts or ideas that we all have lurking beneath the surface, that we don't even know are within us — that are surprising and kind of delightful, maybe, in bizarre ways.- Bridget Moser, artist

After scribbling down a flurry of free-form thoughts, Moser will review her list, focusing on the ideas that prompt follow-up questions. 

"Part of the brainstorming led to this idea of a persona that is the Meatbar — like, a very submissive Meatbar that wants to be eaten but is acting like it doesn't. That thought came out of nowhere. But when it comes within a stream of like 40 different thoughts that perhaps have less of an impact on me in the moment, then I know, OK, there's something to that."

Why did she have that thought? Why was that the picture that popped in her brain? If she's asking herself any of those questions, it's a sign to push further. And in this case, it was clear: "Now I need to start writing from the point of view of this Meatbar," she laughs.

How did she 'follow the path' from there?

Moser's pouty flirt of a Meatbar made it into the final piece, but what you don't see on stage is the pages and pages of writing that goes into staging that moment. To develop the scene, the artist writes multiple monologues from the perspective of her new character, trying to push the idea to its extreme. How does the Meatbar move? What is its voice like? "All of these very ridiculous kinds of questions," she says.

"There's a lot that is done that will never see the light of day," she says. "What does see the light of day is perhaps very embarrassing as well, it's just calculated to be that way."

How can you think like an artist?

For Moser, brainstorming "bizarre, confounding or foolish" things helps shake her into production mode. "Instead of just sitting and waiting to be struck by a fantastic idea or thought, there is a certain amount of digging or searching that has to be done," she says.

It's why her advice could apply to any creative hurdle. "There are thoughts or ideas that we all have lurking beneath the surface, that we don't even know are within us — that are surprising and kind of delightful, maybe, in bizarre ways," she says. The ideas you jot down don't have to make sense. "Giving yourself permission — or the freedom — to go there, will lead you somewhere very unexpected but rewarding at the same time," says Moser.

"Even if it produces nothing, I think it's a fun activity, for sure."