Thoughts about collaboration



To collaborate is to work together in an intellectual effort. It is different to inviting someone to participate in an already established platform. It allows for flexibility and negotiation between the participants.


There are still questions about how people can collaborate on a project... hence, this brings up the inability of the viewer in finding a space in the work of art -object, event, video, etc.- It raises the issue whether a "passive" participation can be considered collaboration at all.

There maybe an expectation, from the artist or cultural practitioner, about how people should engage with the work or work-platform. This points out to separation, distance, and misunderstanding, indeed to the impossibility of collaboration in art.

Comments

Hoy, artista said…
Collaboration in art is toooooooo hard. I'd rather support someone when they have an idea. Compromising is not the same as collaborating. Collaboration is easier when everyone involved has a different expertise.
Anonymous said…
Collaboration is the act of working together to create a new idea, form, or project.

Like with most things a collaboration can have a positive outcome (i.e. a new idea which would not have been possible if 2 people had worked independently) or it can have a negative one (i.e. a break-down in communication or a comprise of ideas with a diluted end result).

For example you can blend oil and vinegar to create a nice salad dressing, but you can also add too much of either ingredient to create an unbalanced and insipid mix.

I do think that collaboration (the positive kind) does require a certain level of openness, because in the end it is a process of negotiation, brainstorming, and exchange of ideas.
Anonymous said…
I collaborated (natch) on two films on this subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4a5MM-3OB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_KOIBWCXec&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH2wGWFqDIY&feature=related
Anonymous said…
a collaboration can be a success or a failure; an act of sharing or domination
Anonymous said…
Collaboration to me is one of the most important parts of my work. I have done it for years, in different ways: So simple as inviting a fisherman or a gardener who is around when I am painting to paint in my canvas; so complex as inviting other artist to plan together a project and create...This is in some way one of the real expressions of inclusion as a philosophy in my work!
Jorge Restrepo, artist

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