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Creating Beauty Requires Imperfection

Years ago when I used to create beautiful produce displays as my way of making a living, it became clear that sometimes a display could look too perfect, too beautiful for people to want to touch. In an article in the Kentucky Kernal about a sushi place, the author states:  "The food often arrives too beautiful to eat."

The comment struck me as I ironically remembered how it is common in all Japanese art to leave a piece intentionally imperfect as perfection is only saved for deity. It seems to me that some of the offness is part of what allows any work to be accessible. In an article in the Georgetown Voice about an exhibition of portraits taken from almost too close for comfort, it says:  "Close manages to capture in this series that beauty present in all of us: imperfection."

This concept of imperfection, is perhaps like the mistakes which keep us moving forward in life, keep us growing. Perhaps in order to be creative and human it is necessary to to have such imperfection just to keep striving. Perfection is not just untouchable, undesturbable, but no longer part of the process or journey.

Of course, from my perspective, kind of flipping it on its head and due to the nature of learning and growth, I tend to think things are only perfect when they have such an imperfection.

See Also

• The Georgetown Voice
  Getting Close-r to the gallery scene
• The Globe and Mail: The coven of the marble mavens
  Wonderful story of planting beauty, enchantment and the imperfection therein
• Kentucky Kernal
  Tomo an artistic dish
• App.com - Now hear this: Sounds stir our emotions
  Interesting article about limits and aesthetics of sound - related enough
• NYTimes- Scalia defends government’s right to deny art funds
  Interesting discussion about who should decide - current and worth being up on.