415. More To Be Created

What does it mean to say that an artwork contains a mistake? Putting aside the obvious case where the artist declares some part to be a mistake, is it even possible for an artwork to be wrong?

When we say something is wrong, it is because it doesn’t reach the standard or norm that we’ve applied to it. We feel it falls short in some way that it shouldn’t. This kind of judgment makes sense when we’re examining something where an error could cause harm. We want to minimize the harm done to ourselves and others so we enforce our norms in an attempt to ensure this happens.

But strictly speaking, an artwork cannot harm anyone. Whatever mistake we see is only a deviation from our own sensibility, from the judgments we would have made if we had been the artist. An artwork is necessarily the creation of a particular individual (or group of individuals). Its form and content are an expression of the artist that comes directly from their unique judgments.

Whether or not the audience is pleased by the artwork is not determined by the artist. The audience might not perceive the beauty of the work, but this has nothing to do with the artwork itself. It is rather a function of the awareness of the audience, of whether or not their awareness overlaps with the awareness of the artist.

The audience might critique the work in order to show how it could be more beautiful than it is. But again, this has nothing to do with the artwork itself, which remains a singular creation. Every artwork could be better than it is, simply because the artist’s awareness is never perfect.

Criticism cannot undermine an artwork for the same reason that it is incapable of undermining a person. Both are uniquely what they are, and they add to the tapestry of creation. They do not lack anything even though they could also be more than they are. Any perceived lack is only an indication that something further is possible, which is, in the end, only the tautological truth that there is still more to be created.