Err: What's in a name?
The idea for the name Err came from the french verb errer. It means "to wander," and it contributes to a history of French loiterer/walker culture made famous by flâneur-poets like Charles Baudelaire, who raised the act of idly wandering about the streets of Paris to an art form. In the preface to his novel Paris Peasant, Louis Aragon connects these acts of of wandering the city to wandering about the mind and the collective unconscious. He positions them as acts of resistance to the modern notion of certainty:
“I no longer wish to refrain from the errors of my fingers, the errors of my eyes. I know now that these errors are not just booby traps but curious paths leading towards a destination that they alone can reveal to me…New myths spring up beneath each step we take…Each day the modern sense of existence becomes subtly altered. A mythology ravels and unravels.” -Louis Aragon
Erring is an active, curious searching, wandering, digressing, and discovering. A turning away from habits and certainty, towards new ways of living, thinking and making. All great artists embrace error. They sketch in pen, and roll with whatever punches the ink throws them. Most major events in art history looked like accidents at the time: Pollak’s paint drips, Duchamp’s fountain, Picasso’s staircase--all carry in them a spirit of error, of a glitch in the system that brought the world down a new, uncharted path. The Dadaists erred unapologetically, gleefully. The situationists mapped their errings like revolutionary artographers. Our organization embraces all of the existing definitions of Err, and creates a few of our own as well. We incorporate the paradoxical and multi-faceted nature of the word into our branding, our message, and our philosophy.
I discuss err-ing more here.
I discuss the formation of err and its philosophical roots here.
The logo.
The Err logo is a twist on the classic "resistance fist" used by many activist groups. As artists, our tools for activism are brushes and pens, so our fist holds those things. In a anti-institutional vein, as well as a nod to some of our favorite poets, we chose not to capitalize Err, except in formal settings. Red editorial markings "correct" the name Err, in a nod to the fact that most of our featured artists are emerging pre-professionals—busy making lots of mistakes, and learning from them. We welcome those mistakes, and urge our readers to submit their work, even if they don't think they're "legitimate" artists.
Calling cards.
We're always scouting out new artists to feature and mentor. I created these cards to get in touch with possible future artists.
Promotion.
As Err's creative director, I make a LOT of event flyers. This one, created for our "Those Held Responsible" event, where the core members of Err present their individual work, features the profiles of each artist. It is definitely one of my favorite flyers.
