Glasgow
“I think I could perform successful complex surgery based on confidence” A friend
BAD IDEA is a declaration of the recurring insecurity and fear artists contend with when trying to create newer, better, smarter, sexier work – and the paralysis and stagnancy that can descend under pressure for ceaseless ‘good’ ideas.
Diving into the unseemly world of bad, and then worse, ideas—graciously offering ourselves up to the guffaws and titters, or eye-rolling, of the audience. Yet through the levity of the situation comes a deeper chord, resonant of dismay and frustration with—and yet deep desire for—the creative process. There is bad meaning good, bad meaning bad and just absolutely terrible...It’s about questioning ourselves and our values, and those of other people.
What began as a single use concept to unify a group of collaborators and their disparate practices has developed into a recurring project that continues to evolve.
Over the last five years we have attempted to define what a Bad Idea is, exhibiting in different places and responding to its specific locale. This affects what we make, the materials we use, the food we eat, the local climate, history and population, often describing complex issues, cultures and political systems, based on first impressions.
WhatsApp is where we communicate throughout the year and represents a key factor in determining collective brain function when we are not together. Moiling the depths of our bad thoughts we try to court the error, the exploration, the risk, and to incorporate that. Once a suitable exhibition space has been selected we gather, discuss and draw so to select only the very worst for further action. The rest of the drawings are exhibited as “The Brain”
We look forward to continuing the project until its conclusion, when we can at last transition into making Good Ideas.
