(mistake) Making: A research inquiry investigating the generative potential of unintentionally made mistakes, using a form of hand-knitting

The (mistake) Making inquiry explores the generative potential of the unintentionally made mistake using the rule-based textile technique of hand-knitting and a collection of commercially designed knitting patterns, to (gently) challenge and subvert conventional views of knitting and mistake-making. Significant to the inquiry is my ongoing struggle with linear, sequential forms of rule-based expression. In the context of this research this is explored through experimenting with linear, encoded, written knitting instructions; and the mistake-making, unmaking and remaking my struggles precipitate. Theoretical investigations draw from popular culture, philosophy and contemporary art to elicit views of the mistake or error. These develop a nuanced, multifaceted (mistake) Making vocabulary that expresses the ethos of this inquiry. Particular attention is given to Patricia Bryans’ “blame-free” approach to learning from mistakes. This tactic is adopted in subjective and participatory praxis areas of research. In addition, the creative role of errant mistakes is explored within specific examples of non-knitting systems through an analysis of the systems-directed work of Mark Nunes and artists Ryan Estep and Sara Morawetz. Intermingling with theoretical investigations is studio experimentation with the notion of mistake-marking. Arising from these experiments a predominantly red body of knitted works have been created that make visible the generative potential of mistakes, through observable changes to a predetermined knitted form. Furthermore, a collection of transposable mistake-marking instructions evolved and new ways to manage personal struggles with making were trialled. Studio mistake-marking findings were further explored through six participatory art fieldwork events, which were informed by Nicolas Bourriauds’ concept of relational aesthetics and Bryans’ “blame-free” approach to the occurrence of mistakes. The subjective and participatory artworks are contextualised alongside such contemporary artists as, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Freddie Robins, Chihura Shiota and Kate Just. Through the lens of (mistake) Making I was able to generate a creative, idiosyncratic, experimental approach to theoretical and studio research. In addition, I was able to broaden the scope of a personal making method through creating three participatory artworks which exposed participants to alternative, non-judgemental approaches to mistake-making, further revealing the mistakes generative potential. P Bryans, ‘What do professional men and women learn from making mistakes at work? Research in post-compulsory education, vol. 4, no. 2, 1999, pp. 183–192 M Nunes, ‘Error, noise and potential: The outside of purpose’, Error: Glitch, noise, and jam in new media cultures, The Continuum International Publishing Group, New York, London, 2014, pp. 3-23 N Bourriaud, Relational aesthetics, Collection Documents sur l’art, translated by S Pleasance, F Woods and M Copeland, 1998