Art & Creativity Quote by Norman McLaren

McLaren is smuggling a manifesto into a modest observation: art movements don’t “happen” so much as they’re pushed forward by restless makers who can’t stand repeating themselves. The line turns innovation into a kind of compulsion. Not “should” make something new, but “has a desire” to. That word choice matters. It frames experimentation less as a career strategy and more as an inner itch, the engine that keeps a movement from calcifying into a style guide.

The subtext is a quiet rebuke to nostalgia and institutional comfort. If the last film becomes the template, the movement becomes a brand, and brands optimize. McLaren’s “new phase” insists on risk: the next work must break faith with the last one, even if the audience wants a sequel. It’s an argument for evolution over refinement, for mutation over mastery.

Context sharpens the point. McLaren, a pioneering animator at the National Film Board of Canada, worked in a medium where the “rules” were constantly negotiable: drawing on film stock, choreographing sound, turning accidents into technique. In that world, repetition isn’t just boring; it’s a failure to use the medium’s openness. His phrasing also gives “movement” a literal, filmic kick: motion is not a metaphor but the material itself. The quote’s intent is practical and ethical at once: if you’re making images move, your ideas should move, too.