Failure in performance and visual art

Desde finais dos anos 1970 o duo de artistas suíços Fischli & Weiss chama a atenção pelas transformações do lugar-comum que operam com rara inventividade, subsumindo questões sobre a função da arte e da própria condição humana. O artigo visa comentar os meios pelos quais a noção de Fracasso se apresenta na práxis destes artistas como um aspecto de relevo, enfatizando sua dimensão experimental, detendo-se na análise da conhecida peça em vídeo "The way things go" (1987), um filme de  30 minutos que registra uma hipnótica reação em cadeia composta por objectos do quotidiano.

The article deals with issues that rise from confronting Honoré de Balzac's famous short story "The Unknown Masterpiece" [1831] and the movie "La Belle Noiseuse", from Jacques Rivette [1991], being the latter a loose cinematographic adaptation of the literature piece. It is our intention here to underline issues around the creative process, as the obsession in the search for a masterpiece, having the idea of failure as a guideline, a decisive factor in art making. Both works addresses strong and relevant questions, such as “What can be considered a masterpiece?”, “How can we measure the significance of failure in the artistic process?”.

Texto sobre a produção do artista português João Tabarra, onde se busca ressaltar como se manifestam em sua obra temáticas e aspectos gerais que colaboram para a inscrição de sua produção numa hipotética "poética do fracasso".
Artigo originalmente publicado na Revista Estúdio n.12, dez. 2015 (Lisboa).

For Art Educators failure emerges as a critical positive aspect of the development their own artworks, experienced iteratively (unpublished interviews).  Failure is an important part of entrepreneurship, though it is framed in absolute terms of bankruptcy (Shepherd 2004). 

Whilst the linguistic origins of failure are in the economic domain, conceptualised in terms of a failed enterprise, over time the term has shifted and become personalised, in parallel with the emergence of individualised cultures.  'I made a failure' has become 'I am a failure.' (Le Feuvre (ed), 2010)

Conceptualisations of failure from both art and entrepreneurship will be explored with the aim of better understanding different nuances: absolute failure versus iterative failure, innovation versus improvisation (Hallam and Ingold 2007). 

Such conceptualisations are important in a pedagogical context because failure, understood as part of a process of making (rather than a state of being), is recognised as a valuable learning tool.

The article is a monographic presentation of work of Jacek Kryszkowski, the artist active in the 80’s (in the 20th century), connected with Łódź’s Kultura Zrzuty (Pitch-in Culture) community. Basing on Kryszkowski’s writings, statements and actions, author (re)constructs “escape from culture” project that lies at the heart of Kryszkowski’s oeuvre. In the first part of the article (“Zrzuta”) author presents a portrait of Kryszkowski, in the second one (“Wyprawa”) he focuses on a famous action of self-appointed importing of Witkacy’s ashes from Jeziory to Poland (1985), showing the results of his own “investigation”, and presenting the action as the core of Kryszkowski’s cultural criticism.

The article is a monographic presentation of work of Jacek Kryszkowski, the artist active in the 80’s (in the 20th century), connected with Łódź’s Kultura Zrzuty (Pitch-in Culture) community. Basing on Kryszkowski’s writings, statements and actions, author (re)constructs “escape from culture” project that lies at the heart of Kryszkowski’s oeuvre. In the first part of the article (“Zrzuta”) author presents a portrait of Kryszkowski, in the second one (“Wyprawa”) he focuses on a famous action of self-appointed importing of Witkacy’s ashes from Jeziory to Poland (1985), showing the results of his own “investigation”, and presenting the action as the core of Kryszkowski’s cultural criticism.

O texto* propõe comentar três experiências de fracasso e/ou incompletude a partir de narrativas articuladas pelo cinema e artes visuais, impelidas por uma forte imagem de jornadas – de ordem física e psicológica.  Temos a saga trágica do maratonista japonês Kokichi Tsuburaya conectada à de Colin Smith, um típico "angry young man" no filme britânico "The loneliness of the long distance runner" e também um corredor. O próprio ato de correr é aqui apresentado como um elemento metafórico, introduzindo uma mensagem libertária. E finalmente, temos o fascinante caso de Bas Jan Ader, artista holandês que desapareceu durante uma solitária travessia transatlântica em 1971 - que seria também sua derradeira empreitada artística. Os três casos descrevem situações em que o fator humano da falibidade apresenta-se como activador de experiências dotadas de forte carga melancólica. As narrativas, ainda que alimentadas por pulsões distintas, convergem ainda para uma ideia de deslocamento, solidão, sacrifício, realização e incompletude.

* Artigo apresentado e publicado por ocasião do AVANCA CINE 2015 [Avanca, Portugal]

ABSTRACT
The article proposes to discuss three so-called "experiences of failure" and/or unaccomplishment based on actual facts, interconnected by sports, cinema and visual arts. Thus we have the tragic saga of Kokichi Tsuburaya, japanese marathon runner in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics connected to that of Colin Smith, a typical "angry young man" in the british movie "The loneliness of the long distance runner" and also a racer. The very act of running is here presented as a metaphorical component to deliver a libertarian message. Finally we have the wondrous case of Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappears during a solo transatlantic crossing attempt which happened to be also his last artistic endeavour: a tragic and beautiful event. Such trajectories - or journeys - lead to a reflection on the idea of failure and beyond: the potential interlinks between the notions of incompleteness, disappearance and the very act of failing are also expandable to the instability and precariousness which shape human existence.

Art comes out of failure. You have to try things out. [John Baldessari] Depois de comentar brevemente, na última coluna, a ideia de eficácia na arte, achei pertinente abordar agora a questão do fracasso, de certo modo uma forma "complementar" àquela. Trata-se de uma noção tão antiga quanto a própria arte, e

In 2011 the artist Vaginal Davis presented Memory Island at Tate Modern. Eagerly anticipated, sold out and well publicised, the performance was long, boring, and disrupted by technical limitations. It did not best demonstrate the work of Davis to an audience keen for a live encounter with a seminal figure in the development of post-punk music and performance. But in aesthetic, tone and execution Memory Island is entirely in keeping with Davis’s history as a performer, musician and subcultural figure. Its ‘failure’ raises important questions of subcultural appropriation, institutionalisation and artistic value.

What occurs when a legendary artist does a bad show? How does that relate to the traces of important performance histories? This paper examines how audiences, fans and scholars seek and confirm these histories, and how artists like Davis maintain or embody the traces of their marginality and subcultural position within their minor pieces and misfires.