'Fail' is a book depicting the aesthetics of failure in archiving memories. Memories become stutterer, volatile, and uncertain. Their profiles - evanescent per se - need to be clarified. Their meanings are scattered and lost in an endless ocean of images. Hence, the title "Fail" can mean disappointment, omission, damage, or failure. According to Plato, "to know" is "to remember". As a fact, without memories, we do not exist. Humans find in memories the solution for their experience not to be excluded from the world, to create that mark that makes it unique, and to compensate for a weak instinct. For this reason, since ancient times, communities have strived to pass on, preserve, and store memories. Oral tradition, writings, and arts were originally all different types of collective memory. On the contrary, individual memory storage is quite a recent conquest that became endemic thanks to evolving means of duplication and the spread of images. Technology is substituting personal memories since the present moment can be immediately shared, and efforts in remembering are no longer necessary.
Stefano Parrini
urbanautica.com (review)
'Fail' is a book depicting the aesthetics of failure in archiving memories. Memories become stutterer, volatile, and uncertain. Their profiles - evanescent per se - need to be clarified. Their meanings are scattered and lost in an endless ocean of images. Hence, the title "Fail" can mean disappointment, omission, damage, or failure. According to Plato, "to know" is "to remember". As a fact, without memories, we do not exist. Humans find in memories the solution for their experience not to be excluded from the world, to create that mark that makes it unique, and to compensate for a weak instinct. For this reason, since ancient times, communities have strived to pass on, preserve, and store memories. Oral tradition, writings, and arts were originally all different types of collective memory. On the contrary, individual memory storage is quite a recent conquest that became endemic thanks to evolving means of duplication and the spread of images. Technology is substituting personal memories since the present moment can be immediately shared, and efforts in remembering are no longer necessary.
Stefano Parrini
urbanautica.com (review)
Steve Bisson is an educator, curator, and writer. He is the Chair of Photography at the Paris College of Art and co-founder of the international program Blurring the Lines, which fosters intra-academic dialogue and recognizes outstanding graduate work in photography and visual arts. He is also the founder of the Urbanautica Institute, an online visual anthropology journal that has become a key reference for scholars and photography enthusiasts. Bisson serves as the editor-in-chief of the publishing house Penisola Edizioni, and art director of Lab27, a cultural center dedicated to promoting exhibitions and fostering public discourse on issues at the intersection of image-making, photography, and society.
He has curated over a hundred events, including exhibitions and festivals, and has authored countless writings and publications, collaborating with cultural and educational institutions worldwide, and spent the past 20 years questioning the role of images in society.
• Coaching and Portfolio Review
Go to Coaching and Portfolio Review page
Steve Bisson has also been delivering lectures, mentoring, and collaborating extensively with leading cultural and educational institutions around the world for the past 15 years.
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Design by Roberto Vito D'Amico
Steve Bisson is an educator, curator, and writer. He is the Chair of Photography at the Paris College of Art and co-founder of the international program Blurring the Lines, which fosters intra-academic dialogue and recognizes outstanding graduate work in photography and visual arts. He is also the founder of the Urbanautica Institute, an online visual anthropology journal that has become a key reference for scholars and photography enthusiasts. Bisson serves as the editor-in-chief of the publishing house Penisola Edizioni, and art director of Lab27, a cultural center dedicated to promoting exhibitions and fostering public discourse on issues at the intersection of image-making, photography, and society.
He has curated over a hundred events, including exhibitions and festivals, and has authored countless writings and publications, collaborating with cultural and educational institutions worldwide, and spent the past 20 years questioning the role of images in society.
• Coaching and Portfolio Review
Go to Coaching and Portfolio Review page
Steve Bisson has also been delivering lectures, mentoring, and collaborating extensively with leading cultural and educational institutions around the world for the past 15 years.
—
Design by Roberto Vito D'Amico