OUR HISTORY
2011
Tempting Failure was born from the work tjb, artist and academic, was doing to examine specific phenomenological concerns around body art in his PhD at the University of Bristol.
2012
The first Tempting Failure event took place in London, in what was then performance space. The one-day event focussed on under-represented body art practices.
2013
Moving to The Island in Bristol, the festival grew in size and ambition. Programming work that responded to a 13-point manifesto around failure, risk and rejection, our 9-hour, site-specific event made full use of the unusual venue - an old police building.
The performance marathon was supported by a week-long intensive artist masterclass as well as a schedule of talks and performative lectures, which would become an integral part of our programme as we grew.
“The dedication, consideration, and efficiency of the team programming, producing, and managing Tempting Failure place it way beyond expectations for such a young organisation.”— Richard Hancock, Hancock & Kelly
“Tempting Failure is a rare example of a festival that feels genuinely grown from, and owned by, an artistic community. It placed artist development at its core, with a range of opportunities for artists at every stage of their practice who, it was apparent, often find it difficult to find a home or context for their work. ”— Mel Scaffold, Theatre Bristol
2014
Returning to Bristol and supported by Arts Council England for the first time, Tempting Failure was able to expand. We developed a curatorial strategy to support artists at all stages of their careers, broadened our remit to educate and mentor, and opened our legacy archive.
For the programme, we asked artists to respond to developing work responding to either risk, transgression or failure in non-lateral and inventive ways. We introduced our mentoring programme and invited established artists to perform at the festival, presenting work that challenged preconceived ideas of their practice or reclaimed a prior failure. We continued to place artwork in unique spaces - locating the festival across 6 locations, ranging from an Edwardian cloakroom through to a subterranean roundabout.
“Tempting Failure is an ambitious and challenging festival of current performance practice, pushing at the boundaries of the possible and the impossible.”— Joseph Young, Artist Information co. & AIR Council
2015
Like the thought-provoking art that we support, TF strives to constantly evolve and seeks to never stay complacent in our actions or curation. So in 2015, we were commissioned by Latitude festival and Arts Council England to bring performance art to the famous music festival.
We responded by creating SND - Silent Noise Dive. A sonic immersion, inspired by ‘silent disco’, that challenged artists to respond to a new way of programming, and gave audiences a unique, immersive introduction to performance art.
“I am very surprised by the commitment of TF to disability as social and artistic questioning. One of the rare experiences in my process as a disabled artist.”— Kamil Guenatri
2016
This was our 5th anniversary, and we were honoured to be invited to join Live Art UK, the national network of live art promoters and producers.
For our festival events, we returned to London where it all began. Here we hosted 85 artists from 13 different countries in 11 locations across 5 different boroughs in a ground-breaking 5th birthday celebration. All supported by extensive outreach initiatives in the preceding months that allowed artists to directly connect with their peers and local communities.
“Extremely professional, organised, went beyond the call of duty in helping me to get certain materials for the show. Beyond helpful. One of the most exceptional experiences of working with a festival I have had in 25 years.”— Helena Goldwater
2018
This was our first event after switching to a biennial format. For TF2018 we located all our activities in the borough of Croydon, once again bringing our programme to an unexpected area. We worked in council buildings, on the streets, in music venues, and in a pub theatre, engaging with the local community and demonstrating the diversity of performance art.
Our 2018 events had a focus on supporting and speaking about mental health problems, and we invited artists to respond to the provocation Fractured Bodies, which echoed this and the ever-changing geopolitical conversations in the wake of Trump, Brexit and the climate crisis. We were honoured to bring the work of actionist Hermann Nitsch to a local cinema, screening a retrospective of his aktion and blood painting works over 3 days to mark his 80th birthday.