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.
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
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.
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
Jorge Restrepo, artist