PURSUIT: FAILURE
REJECTS ARCHIVE

Alex Pollard Untitled

Karen Y. Chan Untitled
“This is a digital image made from a photograph I took of a lake. The cloud reflections created interesting shapes, which I manipulated into this abstraction of symmetrical forms. My immediate inclination to create order was what ultimately led me to reject this image. I had initially wanted to create something new, but the more I looked at it, the more it became flat and obsolete. Thus, I rejected this image, in turn rejecting symmetry and order. I often keep my rejected projects, because there is always something to learn from them.”

Derek Larson Counterfeit Reflection

Rosa Menkman Performative Fail
“This is a still from a collection of failing hard drive sounds, while the video is a combination of failed pdf screengrap videos (these were letters in a pdf document when I was capturing them). You can find the whole video here: http://vimeo.com/2269572 My research on glitches (and other artifacts, which are arguably also failures of transparent communication) can be found on my website: http://rosa-menkman.blogspot.com”

Katie Bush Cardiovascular Reject, 2004
“Lenticular digital print that I made when I was love-rejected by a full on shithead (and now I reject it because it hurts to remember the emotional poo)”

Jamie Marie Waelchli Grad School Rejection Letters
“This is one of two drawings I did out of disappoint when I wasn’t accepted into graduate school at Northwestern University or the University of Minnesota back in 2003. They are rejects both in the sense that they are rejection letters, and in the sense that I rejected the drawings themselves by tucking them away hidden in a drawer for over six years.”

Jonathan Vingiano Untitled
http://jonathanvingiano.com/ambience
“This is an interactive piece meant to visualize ambient sound. It was created as a way to represent the silence, or lack thereof, produced while someone is surfing the internet in solitude. As my attention turned to other projects I rejected this piece and now it only exists as a digital sketch.”

Felicity Fenton House Cozies
“A dream I once had: Knitting hundreds of giant sweaters for houses in a vast suburban community. After piecing together the budget, materials, and assistance, I found my meager funds would not cover such a creation.”

Jaime Raybin Mail Order Bride
“For months I compulsively explored Mail Order Bride websites, downloading photos of the prospective brides and grooms. I planned to do some kind of piece where I wrote imaginary letters between them. I abandoned this project after discovering that an artist had already done a much better version of this idea. In her piece, she had actually become a mail-order bride. The work documented her website interactions and letters, and culminated in her wedding photo. This experience helped me realize that my work has more sincerity when it speaks from a personal perspective. I have been unsuccessful doing social critique through art when I am not personally connected to the situation.”

Mary Hill The Holidays
“This piece came to simply and sometimes, one can be suspicious of that.”

Glen Mies Kansas Kat, 2009, Inkjet Print, Pencil, Pen, and Marker on Map, 48’x24′
“This is a piece that I keep pulling out of the closet and scribbling on. Initially, it was an experiment with a free program, that I had downloaded, which allows me to print large images on multiple sheets of paper. I recently included it in an installation for a school critique, but due to its awkward juxtaposition with other works on canvas, my fellow students perceived it as an ‘afterthought’.”

Jeremy Hight dissipating metaphor as thunderstorm
“Built a work of text and image based on my research into similarities between the flux and complexity of meteorology, textuality and writing. It just never came together and I grew increasingly frustrated with it not getting as an artwork as opposed to a sort of collection of ideas and theory…web site was abandoned after a while and still hums along in the 010101 ether…this is just a tiny snapshot from part of it.”

Kirsten Rae Simonsen I Have Been Uneasy in Your Absence
“This drawing was done on poor quality paper while I was traveling in China. Upon my return, my father promptly wrinkled it (by mistake). This bunny man is too old anyway. Most of my half person/half bunny people are quite young.” http://elasticlimit.com/kirstenrae

B.O.T.H. Bench Project Failure
“This is our doomed bench project, plaguing us even as we breathe. We envisioned creating 10 benches, some stationary and some moveable. We planned to invite possible clients/artists/P.R. people/friends for viewings. Moveable benches could be purchased, stationary benches could be contracted for replication. We composed a list of people, plan appetizers and wine and considered various performance pieces. That was 2 years ago, only 2 partial benches have been realized. The first is cemented in the ground. The second bench is constructed of wood, branches, the leg of a table and driftwood from nearby Crescent Beach. Instead the bench sat in it’s natural state, outside for approximately 1 year. Just a month ago we dragged it from beneath a tree and painted it pink. And there it sits. The benches are at a standstill. The other eight benches remain figments of our imagination, the guest lists remain unmailed and any performances unperformed.”