Collaboration Reflection
Bethan's Reflection
Developing ideas and researching
We share many of the same values and interests in art and find excitement in the discussion of artworks, the success, the impact, and the possibilities. This sparking off each other makes the initial part of the process very energetic and exciting and we generated many ideas very fast.
Our research was based around both reading lots and discussing thoughts and artworks. Also looking at photographs, illustrations, videos and music that had something of interest, conceptually or aesthetically.
Spending a lot of time outside the studio, walking and cycling, finding places and talking more.
We found this long research time very necessary to understand each other’s thoughts and values enough to make work together. It took a lot of patience, conversation and compromise.
The difficulty then was refining or developing any of them as I can be very critical and question every aspect of the idea in order to try and develop it before we start but Rose thinks best through slowly working on the actual piece and developing and discovering the purpose and value along the way.
The making
This was the point at which we encountered difficulty and discovered differences between us.
We initially tried to every aspect together but found our pace of working varied.
I like to set time aside to work intensely and very fast on making where as Rose likes to work slowly and begin as soon as we have had the initial idea and loses interest with logistical planning.
We therefore found ways to work on slightly different aspects of each in our own way.
Resolving the work
As we discuss the work constantly as we take on different roles within the making we always have in mind how to resolve the work. It always occurred very organically as by the end we often had a clear idea of where the value lay.
Evaluation
The work is fairly simple and in many ways safe but I think this was necessary as we tested the waters, we had so much to learn about working with another person, creating different sort of work.
I think therefore we addressed the wrong audience for the sort of values we had. They weren’t unpredictable as we kept it on campus so only involved students, yet the whole interest is in the positive dynamics, relationships and conversations between different people.
As we gain confidence, knowledge and skill over time though I am excited about the things and situations we can make and what we can learn.
I also discovered it is hard to maintain your own practice in the same way as inevitably all of your ideas and energies go into the collaborative work. I think the use of independent work became more useful as a support, way of exploring ideas and quenching the frustration that comes with doing work that is very slow, requires lots of planning and preparation.
We draw together
One hand over the other
Looking ahead
We move in the same direction
Then pull and one has to give
To compromise
To try and understand at what point they are at
What are they seeing
Sometimes loose grip, being lead
Other times guiding the way, taking their hand with you.
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Mashed Potato
Reflective Poem
Rose's Reflection
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How successful was the collaboration?
Working collaboratively has always been an intention, already much of our artistic ideologies, research and art practice interlink in an exciting manner, meaning a shared practice was a natural progression. It would be fair to suggest that before embarking on the process I did not consider the logistics of working so closely with another person, thus a lot of learning and experimentation took place in order to identify key concepts to concentrate on in order to create more resolved pieces of work. Thus resulting in a large learning process taking place in order to successfully understand and create work in this manner.
Logistically it is hard to anticipate the full extent of differences between an individual and shared art practice as well as understand the process needed in order to work alongside another person in a collaborative way. Equally, these logistical restrictions were identified almost immediately and remained constant throughout the processes. These were not always negatives and by identifying them we were able to respond appropriately in a way that benefited the work, gaining a greater understanding of the creative process both individually and collaboratively. Highlighting ideas of compromise and artistic negotiation.
Compromise was an ongoing theme throughout the collaboration, this wasn’t necessary a bad thing and arguably benefited the work. Helping one to identify what should and shouldn’t be compromised as well as building an understanding of aspects that should be prioritised both conceptually and creatively. The very nature of a collaborative process means one might have to compromise on something that individually they might not.
This has all been part of the learning process and allowed me to build a greater understanding of what I do and don’t feel is appropriate to compromise on, in different situations. Giving me the confidence to justify something I feel strongly about whilst also understanding when compromise is necessary.
On the whole, the process of working collaboratively in this manner has been interesting both artistically and conceptually, pushing me to think in more depth about the way I work as well as the processes of others around me.
What did the process involve?
The process was primarily made up of conversations and sometimes slight artistic disagreements, always in the knowledge that we have the same end goal. Distinct periods of time apart and time together were needed in order to both be in the same space ‘creatively’ to collaborate. We learnt quickly that our approaches were more varied than originally expected, therefor these distinct time periods were helpful in creating a clear mind set and understanding which direction we want the art to go in, creating both a challenging and rewarding way of working.
What aspects worked well?
Idea generation is something that was very successful, finally ending up with too many ideas and not enough time to compete them, thus resulting in a need to prioritise. This idea generation could be seen as the driving force to the practice, allowing us to stay motivated and push on even when the work wasn’t as successful as initially hoped.
Personally I have found the process extremely beneficial in highlighting what is fundamentally important to me within my artistic practice in a very real situation. Whilst building foundations within our shared practice, allowing us to continue working in the knowledge that we can work successfully in a collaborative way.
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What could be improved on?
Communication is something that could be improved on within the shared practice, if things are less successful there was a tendency to communicate less, whereas it would be far more beneficial to talk over the issues and identify the short comings in the work to then prevent them from occurring again.
Equally it might be beneficial to take the work ‘less seriously’ in the knowledge, not everything will be successful. The work was created with the intention of generating ‘joy’, this could also be applied to the creative process, potentially resulting in more artistic risks being taken creating more exciting and free pieces of work. Idea generation was one of the most successful parts of the collaboration, however many ideas were dismissed as being too ‘weird’ or ‘impractical’. If a conscious effort is made to prioritise these slightly ‘ridiculous’ ideas a more unpredictable or unconventional outcome might occur.
Would I do it again?
Yes, the process both conceptually and creatively has been exciting allowing work to be created quickly on a large scale. We now have the initial foundations needed to work collaboratively, thus when pushing forward we already have the building blocks in place to generate more work in an organised and ambitious manner.