collaborative thoughts

It seems that since this class began, I have noticed so many mentions of collaborative art-making. I guess I am just more aware of it in general now that I am in a specifically collaborative class. I see collaboration referenced in terms of both artwork that is being currently produced and in terms of using collaborative work with students as a valuable art education tool.

As I think more about our project, and the different levels of collaboration involved, I am feeling like there are so many different directions that we could take it in. I have been thinking a lot about how to structure the collaborative art that I ask my students to engage in. It is more complicated than I initially would think it would be to design a collaborative project. There are a lot of nuances of participating in collaborative work, and I think there are different nuances for different types of participants. High school students, for example, will approach a collaborative art assignment very different than graduate students or working artists. It seems that collaboration can mean so many different things depending on one's perspective. It could be frightening for someone who might not have confidence in his/her artistic ability, or on the contrary, it could offer freedom of creativity and expression to those who feel less pressure when working with others. In thinking about designing a collaborative activity/assignment for others, I have been forced to consider many subtleties of collaboration that I wouldn't otherwise, or only on a more personal level. Some of these subtleties are logistical (how will all my students work together on a drawing--it can't all happen at the same time) and others are more theoretical ( will my students be open to the idea of collaboration? what will they think of de-authorization? Should I present ideas/examples of collaboration before they work, or not?).

I am excited to be both engaging in a collaborative work and at the same time, introducing a collab. assignment to my students. I think it will present a really interesting parallel.