How to fail successfully

Year: 2011
Technique: series of 7 drawings, ink on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm

The DIY instructions of self-mutilation humorously deal with the distress of an individual in the contemporary society driven by values such as success, health and happiness. In social psychology the term self-handicapping is used to describe the process by which people avoid effort in the hopes of keeping potential failure from hurting their self-esteem. If psychological case studies describe mild to severe self-destructive behaviors (self-pity, lack of sleep excuses, prescription and illegal drugs abuse), my drawings offer instructions on various extreme self-handicapping with tools from the domestic environment.