I always regard myself as a perfectionist. Since childhood, I have set very high standards of essentially everything in my life, from food to furniture, from clothes to grades. I love seeing perfect things. For me, perfection means beauty, which is pleasing and elegant. I can be extremely annoyed if things are not done perfectly. A mark on the blackboard that wasn’t erased properly can drive me mad for a whole day until it is removed.
Yet as growing up, I realize that beauty is not necessarily perfect, and perfection is not necessarily beautiful. For example, the Japanese art style Wabi-sabi seeks no perfection at all. Rather it pursues transience and imperfection. I used to fail to appreciate such type of art, for it is not as exquisitely done. However, now I gradually get to understand the principles, the concepts behind it. Such imperfection actually is a more truthful representation of the reality than perfection. The nature itself is rustic too. Seas, forests, lands, and etc. all follow irregular shapes rather than perfect rounded ones. Nature is not perfect in any sense, but I cannot say that nature is not beautiful. A coal cube can be perfect, but I might not think of it as beautiful. Somehow the imperfection has its own state of perfection.
Take another example of the tech company Apple. Apple is a dedicated follower of perfection. All the Apple products have perfect design and shape. As a fan of Apple, I definitely love these perfect products. Yet to be honest, I won’t say they are beautiful in any way. They are convenient, nice and useful. Yet in an aesthetic point of view, it cannot be considered beautiful.
Such kind of paradox exists in all aspects of life. One might argue one is better than the other, but the puzzle of perfection and imperfection might not be solved in the future.
I used to hold the same mindset as you did, and in some ways I still am unable to escape it. When I draw something that does not translate from the idea in my brain, I write it off as ugly and as a result, I throw it out. Over time, I am realizing that these "imperfections" are my style and my body's rather than my mind's take on the world , and that they hold their own sense of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI think you often loose sight of what is beautiful if you focus on it's imperfections rather than embracing them. I think some of the most beautiful things in our world are the least perfect, for example, the leaning tower of pisa, which although is not symmetrical and straight, is considered by many to be one of the most well constructed pieces of architecture in the world.
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