A recent art exhibition in Fort Worth, titled The He(Art) of Failure, asked visitors to sit with failure rather than trying to fix it. The show featured art inspired by failures of all kinds, including relationships, careers, and creative processes.

Reframing Failure

Curator Sarah Angle said the idea for the exhibition started 15 years ago when she and fellow curator Jocelyn Foster were making New Year’s resolutions. Angle was trying to build a journalism career, which involved pitching and interviewing, and inevitably led to rejection letters. Angle made a resolution to fail more, not because failure felt good, but because it meant putting herself out there and risking rejection.

One of the artists in the show, Erin Rattigan, created a ceramic sculpture of a woman’s body that kept exploding in the kiln. What survived was a tiny ceramic nipple, which Rattigan used to create an installation featuring photography and relics from the exploded sculpture.

Another artist, Noble Menchaca, has a genetic disorder that caused his eyesight to deteriorate. He had to hold his artwork close to his face to see it and eventually underwent reconstructive eye surgery. However, Menchaca only had one eye operated on, as he was afraid of losing the way he had learned to see the world.

Learning from Failure

Menchaca’s experience with failure has taught him to see things differently. He believes that failure can mean a new way of seeing things and a new opportunity to value what you already have. Menchaca once planned to become a web developer but instead took a risk and started a coffee shop, which he is now happy and proud of.

The curators of the exhibition believe that there is a fear of failure among young people, which can be paralyzing. Angle teaches at TCU and encourages her students to try new things and take risks, even if it means failing. She believes that the bad ideas are often part of getting to the good ones.

Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.