My live demo failed at the art walk, but I'm glad it did

I was showing a time lapse piece at the 3rd Street gallery in Austin and the projector glitched mid way through. The colors shifted to this weird purple and everyone sort of paused, but instead of fixing it I just talked about why that glitch was actually part of the process. It got more questions than any of my finished pieces did that night. Has anyone else had a mistake in a showcase turn into the best talking point?

1 comments

1 Comment

gavinperez9d ago

People really do love that kind of thing, but I have to wonder if you're giving the glitch too much credit. A purple screen is just a purple screen. It's not a statement about digital decay or the passage of time unless you say it is, and honestly, anyone can do that with anything. I've seen people turn a spilled beer on a guitar amp into a whole story about chaos and improvisation, and it always feels a bit forced. The real win is that you stayed calm and didn't panic, not that the glitch itself was profound. Next time, see if they ask the same questions when the equipment works perfectly. That's the real test.