 For Dewey, expression is also not a matter of finding an outer form to an already complete emotion. Emotions, in Dewey’s sense, do not come in ready-made form, but are more like processes. Especially the emotive impulsion behind expression initially lacks a clear-cut content. We might be overcome by a certain emotion but might also be unable to immediately grasp its ultimate content and why we feel the way we do. Dewey compares the position the emotive impulsion has in artistic expression to a magnet that draws in certain material while rejecting others. The impulsion constitutes a kind of gathering principle of the artist’s work, for example explaining her choice of material and ways of using and working on them (AE: 75). In Dewey’s view, the act of expression is driven by the effort to find an appropriate fit between the impulsion and the outer material and involves a constant monitoring of the impact that the artistic decisions have on the development of the initial impulsion. Do they, for example, feed it, clarify it, or obscure it? In other words, “emotional energy” does “real work” in the build-up of artistic expression leading to the expressive object as it 