My thoughts on art collaborations

and how they work for me

A few days ago I received the final prints of a zine I have been working on with a friend of mine. I am so happy with the outcome of the project, that I thought I would share it with you and write a little bit about my experience collaborating with another artist.

Being an artist usually means sitting alone in your studio, at your desk or being somewhere out and about working on your newest creation. Creating art often is a solitary pursuit. At least it is for me. This might sounds a bit sad, but it really isn’t. I would even say solitude is a crucial part of the way I work. My creative process is often based on looking inside myself while looking outside at the world around me at the same time. In order to reach this state of mind and create meaningful work I need to be alone.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t collaborate with others. It only means that the terms for collaborations might be a little more restricted. But even then, working with other artists creates plenty of opportunities to explore different concepts, nurtures your creativity and allows you to learn new skills. Collaborations can be empowering and energizing. They can push you out of your comfort zone and help you grow as an artist and as a human being.

There is no one right way to a successful collaboration. Every single collaboration I have been part of has been different. Working alone means you only have to deal with yourself and that you are the one who is making all the decisions. Working with another person means you have to be open-minded to the ideas and opinions of your partner. You have to loosen your grip on what you want and respect and trust your co-creator and the process. Clear goals and good framework help to minimize misunderstandings.

And last but not least: It should be fun! Not having the same enthusiasm and energy for a project can put the collaboration at risk.

Let’s take my latest collaboration as an example and examine why I think it worked out so well:

1. The collaborator: I have known Angela for twelve years. We found each other through a Meet-Up group for photographers, while I was living in Chicago. We both love photography, and are interested in similar subjects of photography, we trust and respect each other and get along pretty well. This for me is a solid foundation to build a collaboration on.

2. The expectations: We both saw this collaboration as a fun side project to do something together while being 4000 miles apart from each other. We had set a deadline, which we both didn’t stress about too much and we knew we wanted to have a zine as the final ‘product’. We were equally enthusiastic about this project, which I find indispensable for a successful outcome.

3. The concept: The idea for that project was to go on walks in our neighborhoods taking photos within a 1km radius of our home. Angela in Minneapolis and I in Hamburg. We both decided to pick up our 35mm film cameras and black and white film for the project. These ‘rules’ gave us enough room to create the photos we felt like creating, but also challenged us to find something to photograph in an area we have walked countless times.

4. The work: Creating the zine was a team effort. We decided together on the format and the layout of the zine, the final selection of photos, the sequencing and on the text. I created the digital dummy, and Angela wrote the intro for the zine. We both had an equal saying in the making and respected each other’s opinions and ideas. We split the tasks according to our skills and the time each of us was able to put in.

Here are a few pages from the zine. The photos on the left are mine, and Angela’s are on the right:

That’s all from me today. Thank you for being here and for reading this week’s newsletter.

X,

Susanne

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Have you ever been part of a creative collaboration? What was your experience? I would love to hear all about it. You can share it in the comments with me or drop me a line at info@susannehelmert.com

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