Perfectly Imperfect – Flaws, Blemishes and Defects

Mistakes occur, accidents happen, things get damaged. This is part of our everyday experience, and we learn to use various strategies to cope with imperfection. Errors also crop up in the material world of design and manufacturing, because of poor decisions and carelessness, technical deficiencies and design faults, or the intractable nature of the materials themselves. The consequences are very varied, ranging from minor blemishes that unexpectedly come to define a unique piece, right through to disastrous production failures. At the same time, such deviations from perfection can result in damage being made good or repaired, while reusing material resources often brings new solutions and chance events reveal new ways of doing things.

“Perfectly Imperfect” examines the pursuit of a standard of quality that cannot be attained, or is deliberately subverted. It looks at design failures, defective items, the patina of the impermanent and the art of repair, and challenges the current pressure to standardize everything. It gauges the tension between perfection and deficiency, and accepts the special qualities of the flawed, the value of the unfinished and fragmentary – perfectly imperfect, perfectly flawed!