Erring on the Side of Beauty: Making Music from Mistakes in Art Education

PXL MUSIC-Research proposes a six-month project (January to June 2025) that seeks to push our understanding of mistakes in digital art education, specifically focusing on AI-assisted music production. Our project, "Erring on the Side of Beauty," is founded on the premise that imperfections, glitches, and unexpected outcomes in AI processes can be powerful catalysts for creativity and learning. At the heart of our philosophy is the belief that mistakes are not mere errors to be corrected, but opportunities for discovery, innovation, and artistic expression. In the realm of digital arts and humanities, where perfection is often sought through algorithmic precision, we propose a paradigm shift: embracing the imperfect, the unexpected, and the "erroneous" as valuable artistic resources. Our approach is rooted in self-determination theory, positing that by empowering students to collaboratively explore, manipulate, and recontextualize AI "mistakes," we can foster greater autonomy, competence, and relatedness in their artistic journey. This project aims to create a learning environment where errors are not feared but celebrated, where the boundaries between intended and unintended outcomes blur, giving rise to new forms of artistic expression.