In Class Essay Response

HSC 2021

Address the following through a written response to the core task in ‘Period 0’ Wednesday 9th June  Term 2.

The principle thrust of this research task is to get you to articulate a response in relation to a number of concepts and terminologies. These are;

  • Collaborative practice
  • Site specific art / public art
  • Commissioned art
  • Installation art

Research the practices of following artists & the cited artworks

i) JR (France) “All Women are Heroes” 2008-2010, “Inside Out” 2011 onwards & other selected projects

ii) Ian Strange (Australia) “Final Act” 2013, “Island” 2015-2017 & “Suburban” 2011-2013

….and prepare a response to the following.

“As an artist, you are not a machine in a studio. You are not working alone; you are in a community, working with other people”.    –   Alex Kershaw, artist

With reference to this view, explain the significance of collaboration in artistic practice.

There are a number of parts to this question. The first deals with the standpoints / paradigms arising from the quotation. The first part “…..not a machine in a studio” assumes that a mechanized aspect exists in the production of art. That the artist is somehow a machine producing a product for consumption is implied here.

Paradigm = A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline + One that serves as a pattern or model.

You may challenge or agree with this accordingly.

The second part ” You are not working alone; you are in a community, working with other people” is not a true representation of the situation for most artists. Most painters work alone, most photographers work alone, most sculptors work alone etc. It could be held to be true that most artists work alone unless they are working collaboratively or in an arts or artist run community. It’s also true to a degree that you are in a community, working with other people, however this is a dependent condition.

Had Kershaw said; ‘You are not working in isolation; you are in a community working amongst other people.” ones response could be entirely different but because he qualifies the conditions under which the act of ‘working’ takes place you have to respond accordingly.

Artists can be reclusive, they can be sociable, they can connect with their community or isolate themselves from it. The statements are contestable and can form part of your opening response.

Note that the scaffolding on the faculty task sheet contains references to the previous ‘Edge of Trees’ task. Their relevance to the demands of this task are able to be challenged. So; exercise discrimination in choosing what to use in assisting with scaffolding of your response.

You have to explain (in your written response) the significance of collaboration in artistic practice.

  • Explain =  Make (an idea or situation) clear to someone by describing it in more detail or revealing relevant facts:
  • Significance = The quality of being worthy of attention; importance:
  • Collaboration = The action of working with someone to produce something.
  • Artistic practice = What constitutes an artist / artistic practice? Consider the process from ideation / concept through to finished work.

So….what’s important or worthy of our attention when it come to considering collaborative practice?

What does a collaborative practice bring to the generation and creation of an artwork that might not be found in other types of practice?