​ orchestrated failure

a recap of the artist talk with Feiko Beckers (dec 15 '23)

by our reporter: Violeta Gamino Romero

January 4 2024

 

in the third studium resort we met with Feiko Beckers,

a cultivator of the art of lacking skill.

 

due to this conspicuous ‘absence of skill’,

 

his oeuvre is a meticulous

orchestration

of mishaps that never quite materialise

– an enterprise he calls ‘attempts of accidents’.

 

his inspiration emanates from his real-life experiences,

as he tells.

 

Feiko believes in the depth of

storytelling          as a conduit for contemplation and discourse on life,

and his chosen method of communication seems to be an

 elaborated choreography

of staged failures.

 

contrary to the negative connotations typically associated with failure, his creations are not a tribute to defeat but rather an amusing pursuit of attempting something, only for it to unravel in an unintended manner.

 

SUCCESS,

it seems,

is a dull pursuit;

the thrill is in the attempt.

 

“trying” he observes, “is inherent in art; this is not an exact science.”

 

A revelation dawned upon him when he was invited to partake in an exhibition themed around failure.

Tasked with cataloguing his artistic “failures,”

he realised how fun

was to share real-life attempts

of success with the rest.

 

the prospect of encountering failure strikes him as a source of laughter.

conversely, PROSPERITY induces a state of BOREDOM.

 

humour,

 to him,

is an

innate aspect of his being

 – the optimal medium for conveying his abstract ideas.

 

his entire artistic enterprise unfolds as an intricately choreographed sequence of casualties.

 

 

his process is characterised by meticulous calculations,

where he plans failure with       surgical precision.

 

on the stage of performance art,                        though self-trained in the formal nuances of performance, he revels in subverting the audience's expectations.

his works, adorned with self-explanatory titles,

confound expectations.

 

intriguingly, he      intertwines    his artistic endeavours with familial connections,        particularly through the inclusion of his mother in performances.

 

this, he contends,

injects authenticity into his narrative,

making a bond of trust with the audience.

 

 

going beyond adults, he has ventured into children's literature, with a conceptual framework that

revolves

around the utility of ostensibly useless objects

in his artistic lexicon.

 

“I am capable of doing nothing while everyone else is doing something,”

he thought,

only to recant when he realises that he is incapable of such inertia when surrounded by industrious individuals.

this dichotomy leads his public to

reflect on both

       labour                    and                    ethical

considerations.

 

despite possessing a studio, he remains a solitary artisan, preferring the autonomy of creating his sculptures without the complications and expenses of collaboration.

at the moment, he might consider to

make these sculptures more than

an attrezzo.

 

to conclude, Feiko Beckers’ natural and honest energy

made us reflect on art and its meanings from

a funny failing experience.

 

––––––

 

about

Violeta Gamino Romero (2000, Spain) is currently studying Curatorial Studies (University of Groningen, Art History)

 

Feiko Beckers (b. 1983) is a Dutch artist who lives and works in Brussels. He was artist-in-resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2010-2011 and in 2013 at Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

 

He works with everyday histories based on events from his own life, stories about failures, accidents or embarrassing situations that he has personally experienced. His work seeks answers to the unexpected, merciless character of unfortunate events. With video, performance, installations and even music, he constructs narratives that are unexpectedly interrupted, their determined and unavoidable failure impending and self-evident.

 

His work has been exhibited at De Appel, Amsterdam; Palais de Tokyo, Paris;Beursschouwburg, Brussel; Tenderpixel, Londen; Museum Kranenburg, Bergen; ; STUK, Leuven; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Fries Museum, Leeuwarden and at Gallery Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam.

www.feikobeckers.com