Milena Moser on the possibility of mistakes: The art of making mistakes

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Three panels shine like church windows in a high room, they reach to the ceiling. Shimmering, fluctuating colors in subtle gradations. I’m impressed and confused at the same time. I’m here? Is this our friend Todd Hanson’s new exhibition? I know his intricate paper cuttings, with which he creates subtle but surprising effects.

I approach the images, perceive the colors and ask myself what motivated these new works. Then I read his brief explanation: “The three vertical panels symbolize my birth of flowers. These are the first three images I created using color. Since I was diagnosed as colorblind as a child, I was constantly excluded and ridiculed due to my limited perception and therefore constantly avoided this environment. Over the past year, I have gained the confidence needed to overcome my limitations and explore new possibilities. Allowing myself the freedom to make “mistakes” stimulated my creativity and productivity.”

“Every mistake is a new opportunity,” Victor always says. And we make a lot of mistakes in the group that meets every year to help him with his setup. If I make a mistake while writing, I can erase it with a touch. In the visual arts the consequences are more far-reaching. Materials and colors cost money, sometimes surprising amounts of money. But incorrectly cut scaffolding slats give the work an unexpected dimension. Incorrectly pasted paper scraps fill patterns with new meaning. It is often original mistakes that provoke the strongest reactions during an exhibition. “The upside-down skulls touched me,” we hear and secretly wink at each other.

I stand in front of the three colored signs and am glad that Todd allowed himself to make these “mistakes.” And then I suddenly remember my first wedding almost 40 years ago, how I woke up in the middle of the night and realized: I made a mistake. But then I fell asleep again, and the next morning this crystal clear certainty turned out to be just a vague memory, a bad dream. And although the marriage did not last long, I have never regretted it. Love is never a mistake, even when it goes wrong. Especially if something goes wrong. Making mistakes is a risk. Making mistakes requires courage, a sense of adventure, and a certain amount of courage. Characteristics of artists, scientists, amateurs.

Source: Blick