February 16, 2014, by Stephen Mumford
Perfection
Knowing when to stop is one of the most difficult decisions of the creative process. It is not always easy to judge when a work is finished. Perhaps a painting needs one or two more brush strokes in a few places, a poem could do with an extra word added and a couple of them changing, and that song needs just one more verse. Is the piece perfect yet? If not, it could always benefit from more attention.
We have to admire any artist who strives for perfection. Not being content to produce something merely ‘good enough’ but instead pushing on beyond that point, seeking true excellence, into the region where truly great works of art are to be found: this is what inspires us. Yet perfection as a goal is most certainly least obtainable of all in the arts.
Plato introduced us to the idea of the forms, which were the perfect versions of things. No circle in reality is completely mathematically exact. Every thing we call circular has at least some minor imprecision that keeps it from perfect geometrical circularity. But the forms exist in a heavenly realm, Plato said, to be contemplated through pure thought rather than to be seen with the senses. It is here that a mathematician might find the perfect circle. And so too for all other objects and attributes; perhaps there an artist might discover the perfect painting, poem, symphony or novel.
Yet we don’t physically inhabit the world of the forms. Every piece we make will fall short of that ideal. There is no perfect book, play or film that we can make. And this presents a pleasing challenge. In the arts, it is always possible to improve and raise standards ever higher. What a delight that is for us because it means that infinite possibilities are before us. Some scientists speak of the possibility of a final, complete theory of physics. But art never will be complete.
The unobtainability of perfection in the arts impinges on academic life in at least two ways. It is meaningless ever to give 100% for an essay, for one thing, for it could always happen that the next essay is even better. Then what? There can be perfect answers in maths and science, and even in a logic paper, but it is perhaps definitive of the arts that there is always room for improvement.
Second, it poses a challenge for any academic writer in the arts. There have been many brilliant philosophers whose perfectionism has prevented them from completion of their work. The decision that a work is done is always a compromise as it must be taken in the knowledge that more time could make it better. Unless that compromise is made, however, a writer, artist or musician will still have produced nothing.
I read this and found it really interesting. I hadn’t thought about the stopping or the finishing of a piece of work in the way that you’ve described.
I love drawing and painting, taking time out from hustle and bustle and making time in which to do something that i get a great deal of pleasure from. However, i don’t do it nearly often enough. My own exacting standards of Perfectionism gets in the way! I know that before i begin to enjoy what i’m doing i have to overcome and go beyond those standards of getting it right. A scene for painting doesn’t sit still. The wind blows moving my scene, the clouds change shape and move, the light changes, my paint mix never seems to quite grasp the vibrancy, i shift position and my viewpoint of the scene changes. I am never going to capture with any real authenticity that which is before me captured in a single moment on my canvas. However, going beyond that point, getting my painting painted past that point of ever being perfect is when i begin to enjoy what i’m doing. It doesn’t really matter that the colours run or that the clouds are no longer where they were when i started, or that my shapes aren’t quite right or that i have the perspective a bit off! What is important is that i’ve done it, i’ve enjoyed doing it albeit after a “letting go”. I have been privileged in experiencing and seeing the changing scene. The wonderful thing about the painting (the finished product) is that it is a homage to all that movement and change. And having done it, the feeling of having achieved something makes the difficulty of the initial doing, worthwhile.
I should point out that my painting and drawings aren’t of a standard to be sold or to make a living from! They perhaps don’t have the quality or integrity of that which art critics or an audience would observe as being anything other than that of a mediocre attempt. What i personally gain in the doing of it, far outweighs what others may (or indeed may not) observe in the finished piece. That doesn’t preclude my appreciation or enjoyment from the work of others with more skill and talent in the form of painting! (or indeed music or poetry)
Coincidentally, having read this blog i was watching “Call the Midwife” and towards the end of the episode the narrator spoke.
“Perfection is not a polished thing. It is often something that is sincerely meant. Perfection is a job complete, praise given, prayer heard. It can be kindness shown, thanks offered up. Perfection is what we discover in each other, what we see reflected back.”
I think it shows that perfection can be more than just one thing.