Ohni Ziül, kei Versager: Objects, Goals and Failure, a Swiss residency by Rose Magee

Ohni Ziül, kei Versager: Objects, Goals, and Failure explores the creative potential of failure and material agency through a four-month artist residency at Altes Spital, Solothurn, Switzerland. Initiated by the unexpected breaking of hand-blown glass objects during transit, the project reframes failure as a catalyst for empathy, interconnectedness, and transformation. Set in a former hospital, the residency provided a fitting context for investigating the relationships between humans and objects. By engaging with glass and beeswax, materials that embody both fragility and resilience, I embraced material unpredictability, allowing forms and textures to emerge organically. Collaborative workshops further examined failure, imperfection, and materiality as carriers of memory and emotion, fostering empathy for both human and non-human entities. Inspired by thinkers like Jane Bennett and Daniel Miller, the project challenges human-centered views of objecthood, recognizing the agency of materials and their capacity to mediate reflection and connection. Drawing on concepts like wabi-sabi and “thing-power,” the work celebrates the beauty of imperfection and the ambiguity that emerges when control is relinquished. Recurring themes of encounter, empathy, and mediation underscore this practice, proposing that failure is not an endpoint but a means of discovery and growth. By embracing ambiguity and resisting the impulse to fully understand or master, the project advocates for a more interconnected and empathetic engagement with the world.

Bibliography

Alden, Todd. The Essential René Magritte. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1999.
Ali, Mohammad, and Justin C. Velten. “Relationships Between Human Beings and Objects: An Extension of Parasocial Interaction.” The Journal of Communication and Media Studies 2, no. 1 (2017): 1–9.https://doi.org/10.18848/2470-9247/CGP/v02i01/1-9.
Bennett, Jane. “The Force of Things.” Political Theory 32, no. 3 (2004): 347–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591703260853.
Borgerson, Janet L. “Materiality and the Comfort of Things: Drinks, Dining and Discussion with Daniel Miller.” Consumption Markets & Culture 12, no. 2 (2009): 155–70.
Geismar, Haidy. “‘Material Culture Studies’ and Other Ways to Theorize Objects: A Primer to a Regional Debate.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 53, no. 1 (2011): 210–18.
Koren, Leonard. Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. Stone Bridge Press, 1994.
Lange-Berndt, Petra, ed. Materiality. Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art, 2015.
Le Feuvre, Lisa. Failure. London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2010.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Visible and the Invisible. Northwestern University Press, 1968.
Platonov, Andrey. Soul. Translated by Robert Chandler. Random House, 2014.
Szymborska, Wislawa. “Conversation with a Stone.” Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1998.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-29-bk-48631-story.html.

Tip

Tip