Perfection and collection

I recently read the autobiography of Ronnie Corbett, And It's Goodnight from Him, which is also a part biography of his partner in comedy performance, Ronnie Barker who passed away in 2005.

For those from other lands and times of upbringing, Corbett and Barker were The Two Ronnies. They had a comedy sketch and variety show on the BBC for about 15 years during the seventies and eighties. At one stage it had over 20 million viewers - something that, given the multiple media channels of today, is never likely to be seen again in the United Kingdom (something Corbett points out). Apart from their work on The Two Ronnies, they also had long and successful careers as comic actors and performers, and in Barker's case, he also undertooksome dramatic roles in film to great acclaim towards the end of his life.

In the book, Ronnie Corbert highlights two aspects of his deceased partner's character a number of times - his perfectionism in his professional life - mostly writing and performing comedy of various types - and his passion for collecting antiques, postcards and other such things.

It rather struck me in recent days that it was an interesting coincidence that I was reading about these qualities in someone else during the past two weeks, when I have very much been experiencing them in myself across the same time period. The reason why is that I have been away from this blog for the best part of that time putting together a website that is a sort of guide to street art on Melbourne's 86 tram route (the last post is all about it, and how it came about). Prior to that time I was also working on the project, though with not quite the same intensity.

Perfectionism and collecting have, during that period, been quite central feature of my existence, as has been the case before when I have been deeply engaged in bringing a project to fruition.

The perfectionism has manifested in a hunger to drive the website ever further towards being greater in scope and more fully realised in creative and functional vision - essentially the most comprehensive site possible showcasing street art on the 86 tram and with sense of polish and attention to detail I had not entirely imagined when I commenced the project. For that, it was necessary to collect more examples of street art with my camera, which in turn meant multiple evening and weekend explorations in different light conditions, of various roads, lanes and alleys in seven Melbourne suburbs. I wasn't just looking for more examples to collect for the site, I was also looking for the right conditions in different locations to get photographs that were full lit and clear or showed the works off to their best advantage - something that is very difficult with changing weather conditions and numerous different orientations of the works and shadow conditions at different times of the day.

The thing about perfectionism, I find at least, is that it is not necessarily about getting the work perfect, not really - at least with a creative project rather than the construction of a pre designed object, you do not entirely know the outcome of in the beginning. You don't know what perfect is when you start; you have to work enough on the project to see what perfect might be. So perfectionism, it seems to me in this circumstance, is fueled by the constant discovery of more you can do as you complete each iteration or version of a project and thus can see more clearly what the subject of your energies and attention could become. Collecting somehow marries with that process too, because what you often notice in that drive for perfectionism, it what the project lacks in order to more fully realised, and that triggers a desire to find or create something to fill the gap.

Anyway, the site is basically finished now, allowing for a few things that need to be done that are more extras and touch ups, than something essential.

I suppose it is quite possible I was taken by some kind of mania in attempting to bring this project to fruition in a short space of time (I had to get it done quickly, because I have other things do do), and I ponder a little whether what I have created has the value I hope it does as a community resource for Melbourne residents and tourists interested in street art. But the great thing about this project in particular is that a completed website, whatever its value, isn't the only benefit I have ended up with.

I have spent many summer evenings and days outside walking, exploring and photographing when I would normally be in front of the computer or sitting in a chair somewhere; I have got to take a lot of photographs, improve with my use of the camera and build up a sizable number of shots not related to street art from all the photo opportunities I saw on the way - which I had wanted to do anyway over the summer; and lastly I have lost quite a bit of weight and am now fit enough to run for a tram without getting out of breath from all that walking.

Perfection and collection could be the death of some, but fortunately in this case it wasn't the death of me, it was actually quite the opposite.