As I re-watched the interview with Marcus Cook and once again listened to his experiences with Testing Grounds, I began to become more interested in what he was doing and his passion behind it. One thing he said that particularly stood out to me was this: “If you’re building things you want other people to use, it’s one of the things you have to sacrifice very quickly – or, it gets taken away from you”.

As somebody who enjoys art, I took this to heart. I enjoy illustrating and designing, and one of the things I have always struggled with was “letting it go”. I never really fancied the thought of designing for others, simply because it always involved different visions and expectations. I enjoyed doing art for myself.

I have spent the past few years attempting to change or modify this mindset, and it seems that Marcus Cook is one of the artists I’ve met that has spoken into my thoughts, and reminded me that the beauty of art is being able to share it with those around me. His words helped me remember that I have to learn to let go of certain things in order to watch your passion and knowledge grow, just like how he took back with him so many observations and discoveries that allowed him to better himself as an artist and individual.

In the same way, I hope to be able to learn from that and learn to sacrifice these things as well.