[ VIII ] 2022 nn
failed artists international: collected confessions
a project by Florian Egermann
text [EN] / Jeremy Bailey
photography / Alexandra Reichart, Florian Egermann, Golnaz Bashiri, Philip Egermann, Reut Shemesh (and many more)
layout / Florian Egermann
12 x 17 cm, 552 pages
Softcover with embossing,
Swiss brochure with open thread stitching,
digital print
edition / 100 copies, signed and numbered
ISBN 978-3-948628-06-2
nomen nominandum buch, Bremen
40,00 EUR [DE] / 41,20 EUR [AT]
plus shipping costs
A desired goal is not achieved, success does not occur, something fails or fails. Failure is often seen as something negative. But when something fails, something has been actively attempted. The attempt has set something in motion.
In art, failure is part of everyday life. With his project FAILED ARTIST INTERNATIONAL, Florian Egermann turns failure into an avowal. In 2017, he founded the "world's leading network for failed artists". The network manifests itself as an intervention in the context of festivals and exhibition openings. At his booth, interested people can fill out an application form to become part of his network. The only criterion for admission is to "officially" commit to failure. To do this, it is necessary to explain in writing what the failure consists of.
Since 2017, the artist has thus collected over 450 application forms in Germany, Austria, Israel, USA, Belarus and Poland. His network has included over 450 "failed" artists. Florian Egermann collects their stories, their confessions, their experiences in his artist book. On the one hand, the publication documents the project without commentary using photos of the actions; on the other hand, the confessions of the recorded artists are published. These are anonymous confessions that provide exemplary insights into active failure in the art world. In overview, the publication FAILED ARTIST INTERNATIONAL shows individual failures, which, however, turn apparent failure into success within the network. The artist book is introduced by a text by the American media artist Jeremy Bailey.