Anxiety
A diss
A Rejection letter from your favorite graduate program in the mail
Betrayal
Un-met expectation
The end of a friendship
Period

Failure can be slippery in its subjectivity, and complex because it is not simply the opposite of success. It is a human process, which upon examination reveals our innermost thoughts and expectations. It could be said that no great work of art can exist without, at least, tiny preceding failures.

It is a misconception that failure is just a weakness-a slip up, a misstep or as taught to infants, a booboo-it is so much more. It is a view into our process of living. And so, this show comes from an idea that failure represents "a life lived"!. Each of the works on display offers a window into the feelings and emotions of the artists. Derek Boyle zooms into the body, stretching out and slowing down moments of anxiety. Kathy High's videos create a contemplative mood for viewers as they enter the world of Lily dog and explore the feeling of being alone and unheard. Hundreds of hand-typed cards by Suzanne Boatenreiter share unspoken, insecure and angry feelings that are so often suppressed for fear of being rejected...Ultimately, the collective works in this show are all about feelings-thought, felt and un-expressed-multi layered, and psychologically complex.

More than 20 artists have participated in this show including twelve 7h graders from Brooklyn, whose words stand out like gems for adults who may have forgotten their childhood lessons, and through their work we gain insight on the personal and cultural landscape of failure. From the curatorial perspective it was important to not only examine art but also popular culture to get a sense of the current vernacular that defines failure. Hence the show is not a dead end but rather a beginning. It is a compliment to a conversation already started by the FAILUREtalks blog and symposium at the University at Albany this Spring and a continuation of the dialogue between artists and the community at large about the values of our social structure that currently pin us down to norms we seldom question. The show is particularly relevant in the context of current economic and political breakdown, critiquing the binary culture of winners or losers which doesn't leave room for the process of experimentation that is a necessary precursor to creativity and invention. Besides taking a lens to the work of selected artists, the 'Wall of Shame' will be open for contribution and participation to all who are present. Join us and join the discussion.

FAILURE was conceived as a show to compliment FAILUREtalks, a symposium, blog and zine made by Shane Aslan Selzer and University at Albany Students and Faculty in the department of Fine Arts.

For more information see (http://failuretalks.wordpress.com/). Special thanks go to my friend and fellow organizer of FAILUREtalks Suzanne Boatenreiter, Sanford Mirling, and the fabulous team at Collar Works.