Concept

"Today, more than ever, I am left with a respect for the formless hunch which was our guide (he is alluding to his production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream), and it has left me with a profound suspicion of the much-used word 'concept'. Of course, even a cook has a concept, but it becomes real during the cooking, and a meal is not made to last. Unfortunately, in the visual arts, 'concept' now replaces all the qualities of hard-earned skills of execution and development. In their place, ideas are developed as ideas, as theoretical statements that lead to equally intellectual statements and discussions in their place. The loss is not in words but in the draining away of what only comes from direct experience, which can challenge the mind and feeling by the quality it brings." - Peter Brook in The Quality of Mercy - Reflections on Shakespeare