Perfection is boring

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Why does imperfection attract our curiosity? And why does something very far from ideal seem beautiful to us? Let's talk about how striving for an unattainable ideal helps us achieve professionalism in our business.

Florian Thalhofer, a Berlin-based artist, said that perfection is boring because we are all obsessed with solving problems. When we see something imperfect, it attracts our attention, we become curious. On the other hand, we try not to notice something inappropriate or frankly bad: it escapes us like background noise.

The difference between excellence and craftsmanship

You may have read Giorgio Vasari's Biography of Giotto about the life of a Florentine painter and sculptor of the early Renaissance. There was an interesting episode: Giotto was asked to prove his skill in painting. He did this by drawing a perfect circle without using any aids, just a brush. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine what this circle looked like, but it seems to me that it was not perfect, but it was executed masterfully. To explain the difference between the one and the other, I will demonstrate this in the figure:

As you can see, my drawing is very far from perfect. The red area clearly shows how much my circle differs from the ideal circle that the program can draw.

The red area serves as an excellent illustration of the distance between the goal and its achievement. Mastery is the pursuit of making this area disappear. And Giotto has such a red zone, most likely, much less than me.

Craftsmanship is not perfection, it is the pursuit of excellence.

Why we like sketch drawings

We find sporting events exciting because of mistakes, misses, defeats and falls. Basically, any sport is a struggle to avoid them. Sport serves as a great metaphor for the struggle in our everyday life: there is a huge difference between what we strive for and our real achievements. It is interesting to watch an athlete's impeccable performance, but to see how he gives all the best in an unequal struggle, overcoming himself is breathtaking.

It seems to me that similar feelings are caused by drawings by hand. What makes them "alive", "charming", "special" does not depend on the author's style. Rather, we are attracted by the artist's desire for perfection. When you look at how a person draws, you understand that this is also a kind of struggle.

Artists and designers often hide the creation process and only show the brilliant results of their work. But in a world full of perfect, amazing work, the imperfection of the process can be exactly what makes your work more interesting to the audience. When you see the process of creation, creation becomes closer, more human and therefore more beautiful.

We like to see the process itself, not just the result. Flaws in your job can add beauty to your job if it reflects your pursuit of excellence rather than a devil-may-care attitude.

You will never be perfect - accept it

All creative people are familiar with the awful inner voice that pops up as soon as you start working on something. This voice will always point out flaws and mistakes even before the completion of the work. When I paint, this voice always - ALWAYS - convinces me that this is the worst thing I've ever done in my life. I see a disgusting perspective, irregular proportions, curved lines … everything is very sad.

Imagine my relief when I realized that these mistakes might be appealing to viewers. I am not afraid to show something imperfect, because this is also part of my work and striving for excellence.

In our quest for mastery, we must learn to live with imperfection, with this difference between the desired and the real. You understand that even this article could have been written much better. But this is the best I can do at the moment. And you need to live here and now.