Artefacts of Failure at QUAD

Well, I went to last night's opening of the show at QUAD in Derby that includes the printed version of this blog. Curated by Candice Jacobs and Fay Nicolson, the main show – Accidentally on Purpose – is an ambitious and challenging show. Although not addressing failure head on, it does deal with repetition, accident and disappointment. It's well worth a look, if you're in the area. There's more information available here.


Both exhibitions are free and run until October 7th.


The printed version of this blog is in the Artefacts of Failure show, which accompanies the show mention above. It's curated by Jill Carruthers and is placed in the public areas of the centre. The works will be seen by people moving around the building en route to cinemas and bars and such. Aside from our piece, there are ashes of drawings, black Super 8 films, unsuccessful paintings and so on. Each piece has a small text explaining why the piece is  considered a failure by the artist. Speaking to Jill last night, it seemed that some of her experiences mirrored my own. Loads of people replied to the call out for this blog with works that incorporated failure self-consciously, or simply failed to sell or be included in a show. All the pieces included here (and in the wider show), are deemed failures by the maker, for whatever reason.

A couple of shots of the installation. I meant to take more, with people milling around, but people tended to stay in the main gallery and I had to leave to come home. In short, I failed.