When I saw the open call of Altes Spital I wrote a proposal suggesting working with beeswax to capture the tactile qualities of the nature surrounding the residency and objects that have incurred human intervention. I kept the proposal flexible so I could be inspired by the location and people but I knew I wanted to continue working around the themes of tension, fragility and coexistence. Whilst I am here I want to explore the position that we can see ourselves reflected in objects and that object-based art is a tool to transcend language through shared understanding.
Opening a carefully packed box of hand-blown glass objects to discover that a third of them are broken may seem like an unfortunate start to a four-month artist residency. But as I stand in the largest studio space I have had to date, overlooking the river and mountains, I wonder if this is perhaps a chance to shift my understanding of failure. Could there be such a thing as positive failure? Could I replace the emotions I associate with broken artwork, pain, loss, and inadequacy, with opportunity and possibility?
“Failure exists in relation to goals. Nature has no goals so can’t fail. Humans have goals so they have to fail. Often the wonderful continuities produced by failure reveal the pettiness of the goal.” ― Cornelius Cardew
“Material is understood as an information carrier” ― Monika Wagner,Material, 2001
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