Demontrating and Doing︎︎︎
In one exercise that I
have done with beginning students I give a simple set of instructions:
a) demonstrate something that you know, and
b) do something that you have never done before.
I ask them to use real materials, pretend nothing, and engage in a minimum of language when presenting the work.
The conversation afterwards quickly explores the psychological differences between knowing and not knowing, and what the role of a witness is in both versions. The students discuss how they feel about doing something in front of others, and how it feels when they know what they are doing vs. not knowing what will happen.
This exercise allows one to practice, to develop trust. If one is going to take risks, then one must be prepared to fail. It is important to experience being less than successful in an endeavor, to understand that one can survive it. And generally the public will retain respect for the effort, recognizing perhaps better than one’s self that no one is perfect. It is also probable that one learns more from something that hasn’t worked as envisioned than if it had gone exactly according to plan. Other possibilities open up that probably hadn’t been initially considered.
a) demonstrate something that you know, and
b) do something that you have never done before.
I ask them to use real materials, pretend nothing, and engage in a minimum of language when presenting the work.
The conversation afterwards quickly explores the psychological differences between knowing and not knowing, and what the role of a witness is in both versions. The students discuss how they feel about doing something in front of others, and how it feels when they know what they are doing vs. not knowing what will happen.
This exercise allows one to practice, to develop trust. If one is going to take risks, then one must be prepared to fail. It is important to experience being less than successful in an endeavor, to understand that one can survive it. And generally the public will retain respect for the effort, recognizing perhaps better than one’s self that no one is perfect. It is also probable that one learns more from something that hasn’t worked as envisioned than if it had gone exactly according to plan. Other possibilities open up that probably hadn’t been initially considered.
︎︎︎from Marilyn Arsem
Welcome to mapping collaboration, a toolbox for workshopping and creating across disciplines...
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
The inspiration for this project came from faculty and students at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts where BFA, MFA and PhD programs in Dance, Theatre Production and Design, Visual Art, Film, and Music and Sound all work together in studio settings and playfully experiment with processes of art-making.
We wanted to create a database of projects, assignments and theory that we collect inside the studio and from research happening in other places. We are curious about how we collaborate and how structures reoccur, translate and deviate from one discipline to another.
Composition is central to these processes and offers a base for our approaches and experiments. We are excited about what our students are doing and inspired by the new languages in contemporary art and performance we continue to see develop.
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
