Imperfect Archiving/Archiving as Practice

Imperfect Archiving/Archiving as Practice is a 19 page essay by Be Oakley of GenderFail Archive discussing their practice through the lens of archiving.

Be Oakley, (formally known as Brett Suemnicht) Born 1991 in Clearwater, Florida; is a writer, facilitator and publisher based in Brooklyn, NY. Oakley’s projects looks to what Fred Moten calls “the politics of the mess” by framing their identity as a white non-binary queer person in its intersections with failure and internationality. In 2015 they started GenderFail, a publishing and programming initiative that seeks to encourage projects that foster an intersectional queer subjectivity. Their work has been shown in programs and exhibitions at MoMA PS1 (NYC), the Studio Museum of Harlem, The International Center of Photography (NYC), Vox Populi and Sediment Arts. Their publications can be found in the library collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, The Met Museum, and many others.

Started in 2015, GenderFail is an imperfect programming and publishing platform that highlights intersectional queer subjectivity. Our projects look at various forms of failure – from personal, public, and political perspectives – as a boundless form of creative potential. GenderFail is fueled by the messiness of collaboration, education, and community to push our goals of failing forward. We have been a part of projects, programming and exhibitions including The Studio Museum in Harlem (Radical Reading Room, 2019), Williams College Museum of Art (Queer Zines, 2019), MoMA PS1 (Past and Future Fictions, 2018), The International Center of Photography (Queering the Collection, 2018), among many others. Our publications can be found in the library collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Center for Book Arts, Tate Museum Zine Library, among others.