Discussion “Epic fail /The praise of failure”

Discussion “Epic fail /The praise of failure”: Jack Halberstam, Gaby Sahhar, Anastasia Vepreva, moderator Francesca Altamura
International discussion “Epic fail /The praise of failure” is included in the discussion cycle "Salon of Rejected Categories" of the educational program of the VII Moscow International Biennale for Young Art. The curator of the cycle Andrey Shental.
The educational program was developed with The Winzavod Fund For The Support of Contemporary Art. Russian version see: link
Andrey Shental about discussion:
Age of heroes with a capital letter are in the past; the notion of genius and grand gestures followed to oblivion. However, displays of strength have been replaced by successful career imagery, entrepreneurial skills, and status consumption on Instagram. “Self-made man”, an individual who has achieved financial prosperity or high symbolic status with his very own efforts, became the main role model of modern society. Even the life cycle now should embrace an ascending order - in the form of constant career growth, wage growth, accumulation of social capital. And not only men are subjects to that system. As the philosopher Nina Power rightly noted, "the demand to be an 'adaptable' worker, to be constantly 'networking', 'selling yourself,' in effect, to become a kind of walking CV is felt keenly by both sexes in the developed world”.
Thus, human subjectivity becomes indistinguishable from an employment record fueled by personal ambitions. Unsurprisingly, the cult of success generates a variety of anxiety disorders tied with fear of failure, social apathy, and age-related crises. However, it is perhaps failure or weakness that conceals in itself emancipatory potential. In particular, the so-called “Antisocial queer theory”, which challenges not only the fulfillment of prescribed gender roles, but also integration, adaptability and conformity. Contemporary art that replaced modernism and avant-garde, took a more critical stance towards macho gestures.