End of day three and the topics we covered were varied, exciting, challenging, supported. A conversation of trust linked to a conversation about failure and specifically healthy failure which connects to art practice so clearly. As an artist I make repeat attempts at artworks, it’s why I describe myself as having a practice because I practice being an artist everyday. The artwork I hold in my mind for the longest is possibly at the greatest danger of failing as when it is actually made the perfection of the form or aesthetic in my mind is impossible to duplicate. In attempting to manifest this mental picture and failing, I learn about the next piece of work.
The last 3 days has felt more like a week (or more) i’m so full up with information, experiences, questions, motivation. Looking at the thesaurus helps me to reflect and process. Today’s word Fail has a lengthy entry, alas the word learn is nowhere to be seen.
fail
verb
1 be unsuccessful, not succeed, lack success, fall through, fall flat, break down, abort, miscarry, be defeated, suffer defeat, be in vain, be frustrated, collapse, founder, misfire, backfire, not come up to scratch, meet with disaster, come to grief, come to nothing, come to naught, miss the mark, run aground, go astray; informal flop, fizzle out, flatline, come a cropper, bite the dust, bomb, blow up in someone’s face, go down like a lead balloon.
ANTONYMS succeed.
2 be unsuccessful in, not pass; be found wanting, be found deficient, not make the grade, not pass muster, not come up to scratch, be rejected; informal flunk.
ANTONYMS pass.
3 let down, disappoint, break one’s promise to, dash someone’s hopes, fall short of someone’s expectations; neglect, desert, abandon; betray, be disloyal to, be unfaithful to, break faith with, play someone false; informal do the dirty on; N. Amer. informal bail on; archaic forsake.
ANTONYMS support.
4 be deficient, be wanting, be lacking, fall short, be insufficient, be inadequate; not come to ripeness, wither.
ANTONYMS thrive.
5 fade, grow less, grow dim, dim, die away, dwindle, wane, disappear, vanish, peter out, dissolve.
6 break down, break, stop working, cease to function, cut out, stop, stall, crash, give out; malfunction, act up, go wrong, develop a fault, be faulty, be defective; informal conk out, go kaput, go phut, give up the ghost, go on the blink, be on the blink; Brit. informal pack up, play up.
ANTONYMS work, be in working order.
7 deteriorate, degenerate, decline, go into decline, fade, diminish, dwindle, wane, ebb, sink, collapse, decay.
ANTONYMS improve.
8 collapse, crash, go under, go bankrupt, become insolvent, go into receivership, be in the hands of the receivers, go into liquidation, cease trading, cease production, be closed, be shut down, close down, be wound up; informal fold, flop, go bust, go broke, go bump, go to the wall, go belly up.
ANTONYMS thrive.
