Design in space︎︎︎
Up to down shapes... This is an easy way to get people up and composing in the space with simple movement.
Have the group lying on the floor and just breathing deeply (or choose any kind of centering work to bring focus to the room). Have them start to play with the process of getting up to their feet. Ask each person to choose 5 or 6 still shapes from the floor to standing in sequence.They should memorize these shapes and be able to go from 1-6 and 6-1. These don't have to be complex shapes. Give them enough time to really own their choices so they feel confident.
Next ask three or four people to be in the space and the rest sit and observe. Have the participants stand anywhere in the space and go from 1-6 and 6-1 on your count slowly for the group. This gives the group watching a sense of the material. Ask the group to notice relationships between the bodies—different levels, directions and dynamics. Then ask one person watching to place the bodies in the space in a more interesting way. Then repeat the shapes in sequence with the new spacing. The group can discuss what they notice about the new configuration and even make a new choice- or change the front. This work makes it clear that our choices on where something happens in space have a huge effect on what we want to say or where we want focus placed.
Have the group lying on the floor and just breathing deeply (or choose any kind of centering work to bring focus to the room). Have them start to play with the process of getting up to their feet. Ask each person to choose 5 or 6 still shapes from the floor to standing in sequence.They should memorize these shapes and be able to go from 1-6 and 6-1. These don't have to be complex shapes. Give them enough time to really own their choices so they feel confident.
Next ask three or four people to be in the space and the rest sit and observe. Have the participants stand anywhere in the space and go from 1-6 and 6-1 on your count slowly for the group. This gives the group watching a sense of the material. Ask the group to notice relationships between the bodies—different levels, directions and dynamics. Then ask one person watching to place the bodies in the space in a more interesting way. Then repeat the shapes in sequence with the new spacing. The group can discuss what they notice about the new configuration and even make a new choice- or change the front. This work makes it clear that our choices on where something happens in space have a huge effect on what we want to say or where we want focus placed.
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!
