Learning to Fail
Summary
Learners will engage in an art practice that is destined to fail, through which they will understand how contemporary artists perceive failures in their works and see them as positive and hopeful efforts.
1. Activity —Bound to Fail (6 min)
Choose one of the three activities
A. Cut a Perfect Circle
Cut a circle with a tool no more than scissors, the rounder the better.
B. Draw a Perfect Straight Line
Draw a straight line with no tool, the straighter, the better.
C. Perfectly Replicate a Sentence
Copy the course title by hand, aiming for it to be as “exactly the same” as possible.
2. Reflection (5 min)
Question
1. If you only look at your feelings, would you call yourself a “success” or a “failure”? Why?
2. Has your judgment changed after comparing your work with the template image or the course title?
3. At what moment did you realize during the event that it could not be perfect? What makes you feel that way?
4. Who do you think is deciding what ‘failure’ means? Does this judgment come from you, others, or some social standard?
5. Did this event make you rethink the role of ‘failure’ in art? If so, what is it?
3. Concept Introduction—How Contemporary Art Uses Failure (5 min)
1. Why talk about failure?
You just went through an art task that was destined to fail.
This makes us think:
Does failure really exist?
Or is it just not meeting a predetermined standard?
2. How does contemporary art view failure?
Many contemporary artists see failure as:
Evidence of the Process
Doubts about the rules
Breakthrough in creation
Failure in art is not a flaw, but a resource.
3. Subjective Failure & Objective Failure
Your experience demonstrated two types of failures:
Subjective failure: Did not meet one’s expectations
Objective failure: Not ‘correct’ compared to reference standards
The key is what these differences themselves can tell us, not right or wrong.
4. Why is failure important in art？
Failure can:
Exposing ‘standards’ is a cultural construction, not a natural truth
Release creative freedom
Make art closer to the real human experience
In contemporary art, failure is not the end, but a new starting point.
4. Concept Introduction—How Contemporary Art Uses Failure (4 min)
Art does not need to be ‘well functioning’ to be valuable.
In many contemporary art practices, failed attempts and actions that were originally impossible to succeed have instead become the source of meaning generation.
The charm of art often comes from the questions it raises, rather than providing answers. Failure exposes the artist’s vulnerability, while also making us realize that vulnerability itself is a shared experience and an important way to connect creators and viewers.
Now, you can try Reworking Your ‘Failed’ Piece
A Exaggerate the Error
Choose the most ‘imperfect’ part
Enlarge it 3-5 times (bold, elongated, repeated, blackened, etc.)
B Repeat the Failure
Repeat the failed part 10-20 times.
Did you learn anything in the course? How do you feel about success and failure now?
Expand Reading
https://www.dpublication.com/conference-proceedings/index.php/shconf/article/view/1001?utm_source
Item – The Art of Disappearance – figshare – Figshare
Microsoft Word – 3-ARIELLI.docx
Learning to Fail © 2025 by Yiming SUN is licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
(https://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/wooden-tile/f/failure.html)
