‘Failure’, as a preoccupation of twentieth century, Western visual art discourse has been discussed in relation to a lack of artistic mastery (Greenburg), pursued as a post-object conceptual tool (Acconci, Nauman et al), and objectified in the deliberately inadequate work of Mike Kelly, Karen Kilimnik and other ‘abject’ artists.
Hermann Finsterlin, the renowned German artist and architect, never produced a single structure or building. He did, however, make models: fantastical, miniature structures, whose organic forms seemed absurd, illogical and hopelessly unrealisable. Despite this, his wildly creative ideas were rich with potentiality; laying down the groundwork for future architects and, finally, perhaps brought to fruition in the incredible buildings of Frank Gehry.
‘Failure’, in its capacity as a trigger or agent for irregular inquiries, and as a model or propositional tool, is the location for my current PhD research. Failed, partial or unrealised creative ideas – in the form of un-built or non-works, may contain fresh hypotheses or unexamined tangential inquiries. My paper will closely examine the generative potential of discomfiture, with the focus on unrealised and/or unsuccessful works.