I have to admit. I dread the idea of collaboration, but it is not unfounded. It has to do with crippling social skills, my lack of ability to understand where other people are coming from, a lack of confidence that I am being understood, and a sort of laser-like focus on my own ideas, and a burning fear that I am not getting done what I feel I must get done-lack of patience. My efforts to combat these has often left me feeling helpless and stuck, and very lonely, which may be part of the reason I started making art in the first place when I was a little kid. The teachers were always telling my Mom that I needed to "get checked out". I was checked out by a doctor. I spent nights awake in laboratories hooked up to electrodes. For some reason, I had to be sleep deprived, and my Mom (bless her heart) would keep me up with coloring books and drawing supplies. The results always came back the same. "She is absolutely fine. She just likes to look at clouds."
On the flip side, I will never give up, ever, on being the best version of myself possible. I adore companionship and am well aware of the positive outcomes of collaboration when it goes well. That mysterious synergy. I experienced it with the Madagascar Institute. I did not participate in this production but here is an example of what these brilliantly creative kids put together.
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CBcaK45WT0
One of my classes this semester is called collaborative studies. I enter in this with the greatest of open-mindedness. Our teacher swore the pairings for the first assignment were random, but I have to wonder. I was paired with a man named Alberto Bursztyn.
albertobursztyn.com
The assignment for us to take turns assisting each other. Within a short time, improbable parallels emerged between our works. We have a friend in common who curates shows from time to time, and now we will be in a show together in November! I learned so much already from this project, and leaves me feeling so optimistic.
Incidentally, I still love looking at clouds... ~*~*~*
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5 comments:
Inspiring as always, Marlene! I really dig your new site, by the way. Strong work.
Keep on cloud-watching! xo
Keep picking away at the wallpaper until you find the stain on the wall that connects you to your imagination. It's a well you can swim in for the rest of your days if you don't mind battling reality once in a while.
Somehow this makes me consider how collaborating with people could be akin to collaborating with clouds, which I also have much appreciation for.
A person or cloud offers a form (or idea), another imbues life into it by adding or refining, like sculpting energy till it manifests into a form that resonates. I suppose everything is a collaboration in some way, with clouds, with a canvas, with paint and brush, with a welder, with a check-out person.
Lovely pondering. Thank you.
Yaaaasss!!!
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