This is a note to self, a journal of sorts. You might find it relevant too…
Have you ever wished for perfection in your art? I have, and I used to all the time, but this is something I've been rethinking lately. Recent events – namely the advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) – have underscored why now more than ever we should eschew the pursuit of perfection. AI is now more capable than we could have ever imagined just a few years ago. AI can achieve flawless execution in art, music, painting, writing, and other pursuits. AI can do all these because AI isn't human, and that's the point. Humans have flaws, humanity is inherently flawed, and that's a good thing because that, I argue, is what makes art truly beautiful.
But what even is humanity? Humanity means different things to different people and the answer changes depending on the context, but one thing is certain, there's no humanity without flaws. We play bum notes on the guitar, we come in too early or too late on the drum beat, we paint one too many straggly lines on the canvas, and we write one too many convoluted sentences on the page. As much as we'd love to get it right every single time, it is perhaps our inability to do so – in other words, it is our nuances – that make us and our art special. It is virtually impossible to sing a note the exact same way twice, or paint the same painting twice, or sculpt a curve the same way twice without introducing some variation, however slight or minute. This may be considered a flaw, but it is this variation that makes human art truly beautiful. For instance, this is one of the reasons why the live versions of our favourite songs tend to strike a chord (excuse the pun) that the studio versions don’t.
I feel the need to introduce a caveat here, that this isn’t a call to abandon practice or not do our best and strive for progress. Rather, the idea is that while we strive for progress, we should remain cognisant of the notion that perfection, that holy grail, that hallowed notion, will always be just out of reach, and that’s okay because trying to reach for that point would be like reaching for the sun, and we know what happened to Icarus.
So, if I may leave you with one thought this week, it's this: perfection isn’t the goal, and it should never be. The experience of making the thing should be the end goal in itself. T Bone Burnett said it best when he said "perfection is a second-rate idea…the computer is able to put out perfect music all day long but it isn't nearly as interesting."
N.B: Just a note to say I’ll be taking a break for the next two weeks for something very, very important ;). The next instalment of this blog and newsletter will go out on Sunday the 23rd of April. In the meantime, why not share this blog with someone who you think might appreciate it? Thank you, and see you soon.
PS: Just a reminder that my latest record, One More Time is out now, everywhere. You can listen to it on several platforms. Please share it with a friend, share it with your social networks, and consider subscribing to the newsletter (below), my YouTube channel, or wherever else you listen to music.