Proyecto’Ace – Together Apart residency (ART Bootcamp) Reflections

Alive
Light and shadow
Sweep notes
across the skin
Alive
With the invisibility
Of things
(Kenneth Sullivan)

This is the poem I found to use in exercise three and in many ways it also seems to capture much of the essence of my experience of being involved with Together Apart.

I am really pleased I took the plunge and joined the residency, I didn’t have any particular expectations to start with and approached the opportunity with genuine curiosity. I was initially concerned about the time commitment but we had a helpful email from the ‘ ace team saying it would be flexible and we were welcome to manage as much as we could.

I was surprised to find that the cohort was entirely female when I looked at everyone’s portfolios and this became a topic of discussion in my smaller groups. The presentations from ‘ ace were stimulating, and introduced me to a range of new artists. The most memorable session was the presentation by Erika Diettes, her work is incredibly powerful and she presented it with extraordinary humility. When she finished you could hear a collective intake of breath. It was a challenge to follow her and the session could have easily finished there!

Several of the group described it as an emotional process. We were all coming together at a point in time that is globally challenging and uncertain. We didn’t know each other’s back stories but using the frame of ‘shelter’ helped people talk about their context and their needs. I was a bit tentative to start with, the usual process of imposter syndrome and whether my work was good enough; certainly when I saw some of the other artists’ work I did wonder what I had done! Needless to say, as others started to talk during the sessions, similar reservations were shared by most of us and I think that helped everyone relax. The process didn’t feel judgemental.

Together Apart was also intellectually thorough which appealed to me. I was introduced to international artists I haven’t come across before, the approach was collaborative and open to experimentation, and I was working with an amazing group of women artists. I now have a significant set of resources to build from.

I have found that I am able to work with artists from different disciplines and cultures, and that ideas will emerge, however short the time frame. I am also reminded that trying to force connections doesn’t work well, the group I felt worked best for me was the one that let go and committed to dialogue without worrying about creating.

I do feel my confidence in my work as an artist has grown and I have definitely made contacts that I think will continue in future – one of the benefits of social media! I like to think I will meet at least some of the cohort face to face at some point.

In terms of the process I think it was very ambitious and there was perhaps more content than was needed in the whole group sessions. Maybe a more blended approach of watching pre-recorded webinars between sessions would have allowed more space for discussion in the session.

The process also reminded me of the concept of swift trust and temporary groups. It is a concept I came across in my consultancy work and seems very relevant here.

To convert the individual expertise of strangers into an interdependent working environment means people must suppress their normal anxieties about each another. This requires the careful creation of a team and associated tasking which encourages collaboration, interdependence and idea generation. (Berthold, 2015)

Having tried this residency out I would definitely look at doing something similar in future, I would also want to consider other international opportunities when travel is more feasible again. In terms of my own learning I have discovered what is possible when working remotely – it offers opportunities to connect in new ways and work quickly. Not surprisingly it can be challenging to get to know people well and be able to read body language in a way you can face to face. This makes resolving differences of opinion more challenging.

I definitely like to work collaboratively and am happy to work flexibly and brainstorm ideas together. As always with groups new ideas emerge that I wouldn’t have realised on my own. I will continue to monitor opportunities, and ‘ ace has shared a comprehensive directory of sites that offer residencies.

I will also remember, for my own process, that it can be helpful to use texts and conversations as prompts for my visual work. In both my group exercises this was an effective way of starting the collective process (the following images show how we responded in the second group exercise). It has helped me reinvigorate my work and find a new sense of energy to keep making. I am hoping my ongoing engagement with the Bridge and TVG artists groups will keep this momentum going.