MARIA VIFTRUP
THE DEPARTMENT OF SPECIALLY SELECTED FAILURES
Found foil, acrylic marker, recycled sleeping pads, found objects, 2026
In The Department of Specially Selected Failures, Maria Viftrup wants you to slow down and examine the relationship between speed and failure. She activates the entire gallery with comprehensive scanning and recording of all the potential failures present in the room.
The artist has placed orange circles around all cracks, crevices, holes, and bumps in Kunsthal Aarhus’ walls, floors, and windows, and connected them with selected words and phrases that lead towards failures. The markings can resemble the work of a proofreader, markings on asphalt before roadwork begins, drawings on the body before plastic surgery, or the special signs on trees that indicate disease and weakness and, ultimately, whether the tree should live or die. In other words, markings that something should be altered, corrected, or removed.
The specially selected faults and failures and all the words associated with them trigger a series of questions and associations: What is a mistake? Who decides when something is a mistake? Why do we make mistakes? What leads to failure?
CREDITS
The installation was created with invaluable help and inspiration from Tobias, Helle, Martin, Ellinor, Lærke, and Vejle Libraries. Thanks for all our mistakes and everything we learn!
Photos: Maria Viftrup and Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen for Kunsthal Aarhus
THE DEPARTMENT OF SPECIALLY SELECTED FAILURES
At The Department of Specially Selected Failures, we take care of all kinds of failures and regrets.
We respond to workplaces, private homes, even bodies on short notice. Our team of specially trained troubleshooters is educated in slow caregiving techniques, poetic remark services, sensitive fingertips, and general failure augmentation.
Through slow behavior, the mistakes reveal themselves – that is why we train in hesitation and sluggishness.
Welcome to the department – just take your time.
Maria Viftrup
Department Head and Chief Troubleshooter
