Faff
An overcomplicated, aimless or time wasting task where you feel like you achieve little despite best efforts. Can be used as a noun or a verb.
"Formatting this zine has been a right faff"
"Stop faffing around with fonts, nobody will mind if it's in Arial"
"Stop faffing around with fonts, nobody will mind if it's in Arial"
Donated by Ellen Ball
Fidgeting
Fiddling about with stuff with a vague and sourceless sense of unease.
"You at the back, stop your fidgeting and get on with your work!"
Donated by Adam Gillam
Forage
The word 'forage' seems to have two, almost oppositional meanings: the Old French, to plunder or pillage, and from its earlier Germanic origins, which I am drawn to, related to fodder - evoking sustenance, the stuff we need to feed our bodies and our practice. Fodder is also straw, recalling the practice of gleaning which was done after the harvest by women and children, who were permitted to collect grains that were left on the land, golden nuggets, vital to their survival over the winter. I think of Agnes Varda's film The Gleaners and I that likens such collecting practices with her own gathering of materials, gestures, images, ideas in her filmmaking. 'Fodder' is also the bed of straw, the matter that we might nest within, to support and care for our practice.
“She went out into the hedgerows to forage for haws and sloes.”
“The new references they gathered on their research trip serve as forage for their new project.”
“The new references they gathered on their research trip serve as forage for their new project.”
Donated by Amanda Couch
Found Objects
An object—often practical, manufactured or natural—that was not originally designed as an artwork but has been recycled in an artistic context.
“The artist's exhibition featured several found-objects from the domestic environment.”
Donated by Thomas Ellmer
Fucked
Something is fucked if it is broken, damaged beyond repair, unsalvageable, forever-changed in a negative manner, destroyed. Kaput. Anything and everything can be fucked. People places and things are and can be fucked. Ideas can and are fucked, too. Not to be confused with any sexual activity of any kind.
“That battery is fucked. Nothing left.”
“Oh, Man! That's fucked now. We can't use that!”
“Oh, Man! That's fucked now. We can't use that!”
Donated by Jordan Baseman