My fear of dishonest depth
I recently covered a vase in tiny mirrors to make it look like a disco ball. It took hours, hurt my back. It made me reflect about art and if I would be capable of creating art. A tangent.
I think I can't be a good artist, because I lack patience.
If I get an idea, I need to jump in immediately – I skim all the relevant information I can gather on the first page of the Google results. Write down my three keywords for the project and want to start.
That is the point where the road forks: I either do it and be done, or I don't do it.
Let's just focus on case one: I do it.
The last thing I created was a hanging vase, covered in tiny mirrors, to make it look like a disco ball. Unfortunately, the vase was already in use, so I had to do the process standing up and bending my way though to the harder to reach spots. It took me approximately three and a half hours.
The thing is – I can't call it art. Could it be art? Maybe... but not really.
I remember a guy on TikTok talking about, his benchmarks of what defines as art. Of course, I couldn't remember his name, luckily I have an extensive collection of bookmark videos and managed to relocate him: McKay Williamson.
He rates the art he looks at with the three Ns: Novelty – how original is the work? Nuance – how difficult would it be to make? Narrative – what does the work actually say?
He also emphasizes, that not all the categories have to get a full mark, but if it lacks in one, the others have to compensate for it. In my case? I lack in all three categories – the idea isn't new, it took me lass than half a day (although it was a pain applying all the mirrors, let me just say that) and there were zero thoughts going into the process and the narrative before starting.
But could it be? What if I covered a swiss «Milchbrente» (imagine a wooden container to carry milk from the alps to the dairy) in my mirrors? The work would be definitely more engaging due to cultural heritage. It could introduce discussions about old and modern trades. The mirrors could be seen as a reflection of tradition or as a thing to hide the cultural past behind it. We probably would rank better with narrative, even nuance – if we add some more intricate details.
But novelty? Thanks to ChatGPT I gathered some prominent examples of mirrors and art. Of course, we have Yayoi Kusamas Infinity Mirror Rooms (from 1965 onward) on the list. In the same big scale category, we find Lucas Samaras Mirrored Rooms (1960s), Doug Aitken Mirage (2017) or Lee Bull. Although the latter also works on smaller scales. Maybe even Dan Graham Pavilions (from the 1970s) – with the mirrored glass could work here.
On a smaller scale, we find Michelangelo Pistoletto Mirror Paintings (from 1962), where he paints atop of mirrors. Or Monica Bonvicini, Olafur Eliasson and Josiah McElheny. There is Lucio Fontana, Leandro Erlich and the one who shall not be named Anish Kapoor.
left: Negative Brick Wall, Olafur Eliasson, MoMA, New York by JGNY | right: Josiah McElheny exhibit at the ICA in Boston by chase_elliott both licensed under CC BY 2.0
In short: There is a long list of people that have worked with mirrors. Regarding my train of thought, there was one body of work, that stood out to me: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian.
The richness in cultural tradition, intricacy and expression – there is no doubt we are looking at art.
Could my «Milchbrente» really develop into something we also recognize as art? I highly doubt it. I think as long as the work does not change and develop in a fundamental way, it would be seen as a fun craft – maybe something to put on Etsy.
Enter a second research in my own TikTok bookmarks. I remembered, that I saw a mirror / iridescent pillow by an artist once... found it – Colin Roberts.
By the way, I would love to own one of his pillows and still... his work feels more graspable or related to my «Milchbrente» than the works I've mentioned before. I am very aware that this is silly coming from someone that dressed a vase in mirrors and has to use AI to get at least some art history knowledge. I mean, the man was at Art Basel Miami this year – so get a grip.
I tried to dig deeper – is it the subject matter? Or the transparency in his process he shares online? Or do I just need to give the man a bit more time? He received his BFA 2001 – and as I originally set this article out to be about patience, art needs time.
It might also be the lack of available knowledge online. The website hosts one paragraph about his work, that among other things reads: «The pieces evoke mined cultural imagery from both past and present, and are obscured in strange and fantastical ways stemming from interest in various subjects. [...] The art is a careful balance of culture, humor and technical feat. Through this, the work crosses significant cultural, social and psychic boundaries.» – Which boundaries? I would love to know more.
On his Instagram he has a post from November 20, 2025, where he talks about one of his newer sculptures «The Alien and the Dancer». Although a big part of the caption is his thanks to a tool sponsor, I feel myself questioning it less than the pillows. Again – using the three Ns as a guideline for me, the work scores higher in Narrative and Novelty.
// Tangent: As a non-native English-speaker how can Novelty simultaneously stand for 1) the quality of being new, original, or unusual, 2) a small and inexpensive toy or ornament.
Coming back to my thesis: I think I can't be a good artist, because I lack patience. In the current moment I wanted to write, that I already made up my mind and I won't be exploring the mirror thing further. Definitely not the «Milchbrente» because it feels very flat, to just take something from 'my heritage' without actually examining (in German I would use the word 'auseinandersetzen') it properly.
The thing is, it is probably not patience – although this might be the most graspable part of it in daily life. I don’t trust myself to enter a topic honestly yet.
The fear of forcing or constructing a narrative and depth, that was never really explored or honed honestly.
As I sometimes lack the skills to put my reflections into the most fitting words, I used AI to roast me based on my ramblings. The analysis was brutal but needed: This is about the fear of unearned meaning, the suspicion of retrofitted narrative, my anxiety around cultural legitimacy and the distrust of spectacle and quick wins.
Glad we fought together through the rumbling word-chaos and got there in the end.