Artistic Bedfellows: Histories, Theories and Conversations in Collaborative Art Practices

Commentary on Artistic Bedfellows
Collaboration is an absolutely central topic in contemporary art practice, seen by many as freeing art from its traditional constraints of self-referentiality and subjectivity. In this useful anthology, artist and theorist Holly Crawford collects the most passionate practitioners and critics of collaborative art. With over 40 texts from noted academics and artists in the field, exploring both socio-political and psychological dimensions, Crawford documents a major development in contemporary art. --Dr Daniel Palmer, Theory of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne

At last comes an anthology that tackles "collaboraton," a term thatskirts definition even today. Collaboration continues to evolve along with and by bisecting the creative and intellectual genres of performance, music, writing and language, and now contemporary art and new media.This collection of essays serves as a snap shot then of this recursive interplay. Holly Crawford does an excellent job of framing this discourse. The writing is accessible. The ideas presented are an inspiration for those using collaboration as part of their process. This is an important book.--Christine Palma, host of Echo in the Sense, and Public Affairs Director, KXLU, Los Angeles

Abstract
Although the modernist notion of art as autonomous has been thoroughly contested, the discourse of the artist as celebrated individual persists. As a counter to that, this eclectic collection of writings on 'collaboration as a cultural practice' starts from the standpoint that collective approaches have been a characteristic feature of artistic production throughout the 20th century and that a rich cultural and artistic interchange results from shared experience and dialogue. Informed by contemporary notions of an emergent 'relational' sensibility and participative forms of social and cultural activity (such as the worldwide web) the editor, Holly Crawford, brings together a series of interviews, essays, conversations and remarks on collaboration. International visual artists, critics, writers and musicians explore a range of histories, discourses and theories relating to communal, collective practices including FLUXUS, Zero, GRAV and SPUR in mid-20th century, women artists in the GDR and the Critical Art Ensemble in the Eighties and the experimental New Social Art School set up in Aberdeen in 2004. The resulting anthology, a considerable collaborative project in its own right, challenges orthodoxies and engages in the vital and current debate within the global artistic community about participative cooperative approaches.

Contents
Edited by Holly Crawford

Acknowledgements
Preface
Contents
Introduction

Histories, Theories and Conversations: The Decoration of the Paris Panthéon by Paul Chenavard

A particular Brotherhood -- Pierre-Olivier Douphis

The Calling of Two Creatures, Depression-era collaboration and a theory of camera and pen-- Zoe Trodd

Creative Occupation: Collaborative Artistic Practices in Europe 1937-1944-- Horace Brockington

Collaborative Practices in Environmental Art -- Grant Kester

Concepts of Collaborative Art in the Divided Germany of the 1960s -- Nina Zimmer

'Avant Femme' or Futuristic Frauen Avant-femme or Futuristic Frauen:Collaborative Art by Women in the German Democratic Republic-- Beret Norman

The Second Self-- Charles Green

Encompassing Unboundness: Desire and Collaborative Authorship in Carla Harryman and Lyn Hejinian's The Wide Road -- Shawna Ferris

An Easy Alliance: a dialogue on methodology-- Lull (Elena Knox) and Cristyn Davies

Learning from Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown-- Vladimir Belogolovsky

Language of Innovation-- Alan F. Blackwell and David A. Good

Working Together-- Ken Friedman

Ken Friedman, A Life in Fluxus-- Peter Frank

Temporary Bedfellows, Claes Oldenburg, Maurice Tuchman and Disney-- Holly Crawford

The Ivory Towers Were Always Connected, Interdisciplinary Dia(b)logues as Challenge and Choice-- Ursula Ganz-Blaettler

Socially Engaged Art, Critics and Discontents: Interview of Claire Bishop-- Jennifer Roche

Detrimental to the Interests of the United States": Cuban Artists (Not) in Residence-- Jenni Drozdek

Suzanne Lacy: Oakland Projects-- Dena L. Hawes

Simonides in the Machine: The Art of Virtual Memory in a Pentagon-funded Initiative-- Carrie Paterson

Locating a temporary common space: cultural exchanges in Weedpatch-- Gillian Whitely

The Neistat Brothers," SOMETIMES I'M HARVEY WEINSTEIN, SOMETIMES I'M WES CRAVEN. THE SAME GOES FOR MY BROTHER." Email Interview-- Lillian Fellmann

Having Their Cake and Eating it Too: The Case of Christo's (and Jeanne-Claude's) Im(permanence) and Exclusivity-- Holly Crawford

The Wu-wei of the 21st Century Art of Collaboration-- Lisa Paul Streitfeld

What is Conversational Music or Convers?-- Martin Simon

Shorter Comments, Thoughts and Projects: Some Thoughts on Collaboration-- Guy Van Belle

The Electron Buddy System-- Nicolas Collins

I Always Appreciated Teamwork and Collaborations-- Orlan

The Dream of a Common Language: Thoughts on Collaboration and Protest-- Zoe Trodd

Observations on Collective Cultural Action-- Critical Art Ensemble

New Social Art School-- Eva Merz

Complicity-- Andrea Thal

Transromantik-- Catharyne Ward and Eric Wright

On Collaboration-- TODT

This Way Up, Concept and Progress-- Chris Fite-Wassilak

Online Collaboration in Genomic Art-- Holly Longstaff

A Robot and Its Double-- Pia Lindman

Collaborative Art Projects and art.es-- Fernando Galán

My Collaborative Art-- Nina Ospina

Collaboration between Tracey Snelling and Salvador Diaz, Chicago, March 2005-- Tracey Snelling

i Woz and Gina-- Steve Wozniak

Its seems simple, but it is not-- gelitin

Contributors
Index

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