suliqyre:

What does it mean to say that an artwork contains a mistake? Putting aside the obvious case where the artist declares some part to be a mistake, is it even possible for an artwork to be wrong?

When we say something is wrong, it is because it doesn’t reach the standard or norm that we’ve applied to it. We feel it falls short in some way that it shouldn’t. This kind of judgment makes sense when we’re examining something where an error could cause harm. We want to minimize the harm done to ourselves and others so we enforce our norms in an attempt to ensure this happens.

But strictly speaking, an artwork cannot harm anyone. Whatever mistake we see is only a deviation from our own sensibility, from the judgments we would have made if we had been the artist. An artwork is necessarily the creation of a particular individual (or group of individuals). Its form and content are an expression of the artist that comes directly from their unique judgments.

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