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 The perfect repair would be an invisible one. The hope is to completely restore a broken object to its original function and appearance. But no repair is perfect. It’s not possible to turn back the clock, and no matter how skilled the restoration, it will be detectable – at least to expert eyes. This means that, aesthetically speaking, fixing works against itself. It involves a process of self-erasure; the more skilled the repair, the less visible it will be.

Fixing has been much in the air recently. A general enthusiasm for DIY has prompted many people to make good their old things, rather than throw them out and buy something new. Beyond this, a generation of self-anointed ‘hackers’ try to improve commodities in ways the original manufacturer never intended. A common tactic is to invite all comers to bring in the broken detritus of their lives, and transform each object into an artwork – a strategy pursued by [re]design (London), Klinik der Dinge (Berlin), and Tobias Sternberg’s Art Repair Shop (Belfast).

Participants: Arlington Conservation, David Clarke, Leo Fitzmaurice, Fixperts, Alice Kettle, Laura McGrath, Jasleen Kaur, Park View Motors, Gord Peteran, Stephen Probert, Roland Roos, Bernhard Schobinger, Hans Stofer,  Lisa Walker, Max Warren.