For these and the other artists participating in the exhibition, failure – whether personal or not - is the starting point and the accomplice in the artistic creative process.
I Fail Good runs like a leitmotiv through the work of the artists which the Beursschouwburg shows in and on the building throughout the entire period.

David Helbich (BE)

The lure of failure starts on the building’s façade. David Helbich shows the ‘impossibility’ of the Dutch word Beursschouwburg in a multi-lingual Brussels context and in doing so touches on the essence of the art-centre’s identity.

http://www.davidhelbich.blogspot.com

Gerard Herman (BE)

Gerard Herman was a guest at Beursschouwburg in 2011 with the tragi-comedy smash hit Leven, wat brengt het leven, in which he sang of humanity’s banal problems. For Wonderwel gefaald he undertook ‘a cycle trip for art’ this summer: an odyssey of more than 4,000 km in which he wanted to chart and document all the Belgian ‘Church Streets’, and which was doomed from the outset to fail. In two placards on the façade he addresses the major anxieties in depth for both the artist and the arts centre, a ‘limited attendance’ and ‘scant applause’. Finally Herman presents a self-portrait of the artist as a flapping bird, a present-day Icarus who reaches over-confidently for the sun.

http://www.gerardherman.be

Panamarenko (BE) & Gino de Dominicis (IT)

Panamarenko and Gino de Dominicis likewise had the impossible ambition to fly. In a 1971 VRT report we see Panamarenko’s preparations for the major Arnhem (NL) exhibition “Sonsbeek buiten de perken” (“Sonsbeek out of bounds”). In the Belgian artist, Jef Geys’, park Panamarenko tries in vain to get his Aeromodeller, a kind of zeppelin, airborne to fly with it to Arnhem. We are left to guess whether Panamarenko’s craft really can fly, but let’s keep that specifically as part of the mystery and beauty of his work.

It is also clear that Gino de Dominicis cannot fly, witness his clumsy leaps with outstretched arms in Tentativo di Volo / Attempting to Fly, a 1970 video. In the voice-over he expresses his wish that if not he, then certainly his sons or successors will succeed in flying. In the second work Tentativo Di Far Formare Dei Quadrati Invece Che Dei Cerchi Intorno ad un Sasso Che Cade Nell’acqua / Attempt to Form Squares Instead of Circles Around a Stone that Falls in the Water, speaks of the same enduring belief that is intrinsically linked to the artist: nothing is impossible.

http://www.panamarenko.be

Sara Manente (IT/BE)

Sara Manente presented her performance Lawaai is Hawaai in Beursschouwburg in 2010. In the 2007 Lawaai she attempts to fit a hand seamlessly into a corner while her other hand creates ‘noise’ with the aid of a contact microphone connected to a 78 rpm record. An apparently useless action.

http://cabra.weebly.com/sara-manente.html

Hedwig Houben (NL)

This is also featured in Students’ Doubts by Hedwig Houben. During a workshop Houben interviews students about one of their works they consider a failure. While they are talking about it, they knead a lump of plasticine with their hands. In the final video edition Houben omits the soundtrack. What remains are the students’ hands in a (nervous) interaction with the plasticine.

© Hedwig Houben

http://www.hedwighouben.nl/

Bas Schevers (NL)

Students’ Doubts could previously be seen in the ‘Failure House’ project by Bas Schevers. Schevers, during his residence in South Africa, examined the individual failure and its artistic interpretation with the other artists-in-residence. He also asked the participants for a Curriculum Ruinae, a CV listing failures, missed grants and residencies, called-off projects..., whereby he asked all participants in the programme to contribute.

In the video Visiting Jan Huijben, Schevers spotlights the unique collection in the Dutch artist Jan Huijben’s objects and work, of which a significant amount are only half-finished and dysfunctional.

http://www.basschevers.nl/

Feiko Beckers (NL)

Feiko Beckers, who presents a live performance during the opening, demonstrates in two short videos some iconic slapstick. Thirteen attempts to slip over a banana and An attempt to get struck on the head are part of a longer series of mostly failed attempts to attract ‘the mishap’.

http://www.feikobeckers.com

Dmitry Paranyushkin (RU) & Diego Agulló(ES)

We also see Dmitry Paranyushkin and Diego Agulló working live at the opening. Their new Brussels version of The Humping Pact is presented in a multi-screen installation. Their multiplicity of naked bodies against the background of a number of carefully selected urban locations, and in Beursschouwburg itself, expresses a desire to believe in the futile and realize the impossible.

http://humpingpact.com/

Mannah Depauw & Cathy Weyders (BE)

On 19th and 20th October theatrical creator Manah Depauw and artist Cathy Weyders present their project La Wallifornie. Cathy Weyders’ work often encompasses hybrid, impossible sculptures. For instance, she makes life jackets which are unable to rescue anyone or life rafts from blocks of ice which leave you at the mercy of the unrelenting waves. She has also produced a new sculpture for I Fail Good which explores the boundaries of the attainable.

http://www.cathyweyders.com/

Astrid Seme (AU)

Astrid Seme delved into the phenomenon of insomnia in the audio work 88 Sleeping Disorders, sleeping disorders are narrated by a tranquil, deep man’s voice. Necessity is the mother of all invention and the listener is invited to be rocked gently to sleep.

http://astridseme.com/