Earlier in the week I attended a lecture from Chara Lewis- a lecturer at MMU, and a third of the collaborative practice, Brass Art. I found her lecture very useful- it was very interesting listening to how Chara adapts her practice in order to work as a collaboration, as well as learning about different pieces that the practice have created.
It was encouragable to hear that at first Chara felt as though working as a collaboration may have been difficult, especially the unknown of how two other people may work, and how completely different each of the individual ideas could have been. She then went onto say that the difference in opinions and knowledge through the individual outlooks became a positive way of working- although the three practitioners had similar outlooks on work, it was nice to be able to work instinctively too.
Another interesting idea that I gained from this lecture was the use of "play". It was apparent that enjoyment and entertainment were used in the creation of Brass Art's pieces, adding to the bonus of working as a collaboration. As part of my notes I wrote 'ideas for play: gathering props, positioning, "taking a step back", photography, drawing, HAVE FUN WITH IT' .
Using these idea, I am feeling much more confident about working as a collaborative group. It is already apparent that the seven of of have both similar and contrasting ideas about Unit X, but so far this is showing as a positive experience, as we are all able to bounce off one another's idea and begin to understand each others' ways of working.