Collaboration
Bibliography
"Because all collaborations are
hybrids"
Stufflebeam,
Bonnie Jo and Brewer, Peter. Strange Monsters. Easy Brew Studio,
2106.
Strange
Monsters is a collaborative work consisting of an audio cd of contemporary
jazz, fiction and poetry. A downloadable
"story companion" explaining the thoughts behind all six pieces of
this work is available for free in PDF of format. The writings of Bonnie Jo Shufflebeam are
read by actors and the musical composition of Peter Brewer is played by an
ensemble of professional musicians.
Shufflebeam is the coordinator for the "Art & Words" collaborative
art show in Ft. Worth, TX.
This piece blending many elements of
collaboration and taking on a full scale production sounds interesting. The PDF is a great read in itself when
thinking about the actual mechanics of collaboration. The companion piece also
goes deeply into the inspirations of all the pieces—some historical, some
contemporary.
This work speaks to the heart of
what this research is about: collaboration and inspiration between artists
operating different mediums, in this case writers and musicians. The use of actors and a number of musicians
adds a layer of complexity that makes this piece even more unique. There is a little doubt that this work has
merit for the purposes of this essay.
Stufflebeam,
Bonnie Jo. "7 Best Collaborations Between Writers and Artists." Art &Words, 27, Sept. 2016. https://bonniejostufflebeam.com/2016/09/27/7-best-collaborations-between-writers-and-artists/
The "7 Best
Collaborations" article makes a case for what Shufflebeam believes are the
seven most successful collaborations between artists and writers. The list includes contemporary and historical
pieces as well as partnerships between artists and writers who were personally
unknown to each other.
Shufflebeam as a collaborative
writer and poet herself makes a good case for each of her picks. Even the ones
that seem to be working more in the vein of muse or inspiration pieces. The list is solid and entertaining.
There are pieces in this list that
fit well, as examples, for the purposes of this essay as it is currently
envisioned. Others not so well, such as
Salvador Dali's illustration of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Carroll having died before Dali was born and
the book and illustrations occurring more than 100 years apart from one
another. But that said, it appears that
other works in this list are relevant.
Kelly,
Maura. "Does Artistic Collaboration Ever Work." The Atlantic, 25, July 2012.
Maura Kelly's piece in the Atlantic
discusses, with examples, formal artistic collaborations that have yielded
uneven or, in some cases, poor results.
She then goes on to point out that if we slightly expand the definition
of collaboration into the inspiration and or muse arena we likewise expand the
number of more successful "collaborations".
Kelly, makes a very good case for
the difficulty of collaborative endeavors in the arts. Making the case that writers and painters
seem especially ill-suited to undertake these types endeavors, as they are used
to working in alone, and often in solitude.
Whether by design or by temperament.
Kelly's piece is a cautionary tale
for artists and writers wishing to engage in collaborative projects. As such, it gives a nice juxtaposition for
most of the research contained in this bibliography. One interesting note: her piece contains a
quote by Carrie Brown, a psychiatrist referenced later in this document.
Gupta,
Amit. "Artist Collaboration Fuels Creative Exploration." The Huffington Post, 22 Oct.
This piece is focused on
collaborations between artists creating in the same fields, although the genres
may be different: Jackson Pollock and
Lee Krasner, Salvador Dali and Walt Disney, Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat,
Musicians David Byrne and Brian Eno.
Artists that bring complementary of supplementary skills to an endeavor,
that generally, is within their chosen medium.
The Gupta piece contains good
evidence to back his claim that collaboration will inevitably fuel creativity.
"Artist Collaboration" is
an interesting piece for artists working within the same mediums to read and
consider. It is also a nice companion
piece to the Kelly piece making a nearly opposite argument concerning the
successfulness of collaborative projects.
Not completely opposite though, as Gupta concerns himself exclusively
with artists in the same vein, whereas Kelly does not. That exclusivity makes it unlikely that this
piece will be used in the final essay.
Although, that is not to say that some relevant points are not contained
within this piece.
Evans,
Garth and Philip, Leila. "Water Rising: A Collaboration of Art and
Poetry." Woven Tale Press, 14
Dec. 2015. http://www.thewoventalepress.net/2015/12/14/water-rising-art-and-poetry/
"Water Rising" is a
collaborative work of non-fiction writer and memoirist Leila Philip and
sculpture Garth Evans. Working in other
genres within their artistic fields (poetry for Philip and watercolors for
Evans) the two created twelve pieces of mixed watercolor and poetry. Abstraction and realism.
The "Water Rising" pieces
are gorgeous. Light and airy as
watercolors can be, profound as poetry should be. Philip and Evans have created truly
collaborative works of art that can stand alone, or form a cohesive whole. A few have been put to music and shown this
way. Access to this additional
collaboration is difficult.
There is little doubt that
"Water Rising" as a successful collaboration between a writer and an
artist is a great example to be used for the discussion within this essay.
Philip,
Leila. "A Writer and an Artist Collaborate." Woven Tale Press, 14 Dec. 2015. http://www.thewoventalepress.net/2015/12/14/writer-and-artist/
Answering to what appear to be
written questions Leila Philip writes about her collaboration with visual
artist Garth Evans on their Water Rising
project. She explains the impetus to the
project, the why of it and how the mechanics of selection was designed and
implemented, and even edited.
This is a very comprehensive
interview containing the vision thing, and the individual details of how both
these artists working outside of their usual genres created this cool
collaboration. Why they chose to work
outside of their own genres and whose idea it was is a very interesting story.
"Collaborate" is an
outstanding interview and "how to" guide for putting together a
collaborative project for a writer and an artist to interact. The information contained here is extremely
relevant and useful for the collaboration essay.
Harvey,
Matthea. "Poet Matthea Harvey's
Plan to Slow Rising Currents." Inside/Out:
A MoMA/MoMa PS1 Blog, 7 July, 2010.
Harvey's article in the MoMA's
on-line magazine is a telling of her involvement in the in the "Current
Rising" project through the Modern Poets group, a collaborative project
between writers and visual artists to bring attention to the threat of rising
sea currents on New York City (this was pre-Superstorm Sandy). She details her visceral and cognitive
experience of viewing what the visual artists had created. And how this experience inspired her poem
titled by a picture of ruler in a glass of water, contained in this piece.
"Current Rising" is
nothing if not cool. Exactly what you
would expect from a MoMA project involving modern poets. It is inspiration as collaboration and the
resulting poem is visually stunning as well as a dystopian call to action. The narrative of how she came to write this
piece and what in the exhibition inspired her is an excellent read.
Harvey's article is a very helpful
piece on how to use inspirational art in writing timely and relevant
poetry. The sentiments are good, the
advice good, however, since this is not a true collaboration between artists
and writers it may not be relevant to the collaboration essay as it is
currently envisioned.
Jones,
Meta DuEwa. The Muse is Music: Jazz
Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to Spoken Word. University of Illinois
Press, 2011.
Jones is an associate professor of
African American Literature at Howard University. This book seeks to prove that the rhythms
contained in jazz and blues are inspiration to the prose and poetry within the
African American literary tradition.
Further that jazz and blues are not only inspirational to, but also
inspired by black writers and poets. And
that this is a continuum that begins in the Harlem Renaissance and has
continued unbroken up until today.
This writing is dense, well
researched and full of names of musicians and artists that are relevant to Dr.
Jones point of view. As the title
suggests this more about muses and the cross pollenization that occurs between
music (especially Jazz) and writing (especially poetry) in the African American
Community. Their is an emphasis on
cadence, rhythm and sound in writing, poetry and song in this piece.
There is a lot of good information
in this book. Especially for poets. Making this a good reference source for any
piece on collaboration. Poets such as
Harryette Mullins are referenced many times here as well as many other
contemporary African American writers and musicians. However, the focus is more on inspiration
than collaboration, but a more serious reading may glean information more
relevant to the true collaborative process.
Merriam-Webster
Inc. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate
Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, 1990
Miltner,
Robert. "Where the Visual Meets the Verbal: Collaboration as
Conversation."
Robert Miltner, a Creative Writing
professor at Kent State University focuses this short essay on collaboration as
dialogue—a dialogue between painter and writer.
Using ekphrasis, writing about art, as a starting point Miltner quickly
up to the present state affairs between visual artists and writers, especially
poets.
This is a well crafted essay, with
plenty of in-line references sprinkled throughout helping the reader to easily
identify the quotes contained within.
Direct, easy to read and on point this essay could easily be used as a
template for other craft essay writers.
"Collaboration as
Conversation" makes some good and relevant points about the interaction
between writers and artists, and also about the abilities of both to expand the
conversation around their respective pieces by "opening up" the
dialogue to more readers and viewers.
This is an interesting take on collaboration. It may be useful to help slightly expand the
concept of collaboration as currently considered.
Penn,
Joanna. "Create Something Together. Artistic Collaboration in
Action." The Creative Penn, 23
December, 2013. http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/12/23/artistic-collaboration/
"Creating Something
Together" is an essay arguing that it is time for the writing industry to
seek out artist with which to collaborate.
Penn points out that within the visual art community, especially
performance and indie artists have been moving in this direction for
decades. This piece contains examples,
including one of her own, where writers have successfully collaborated to
create something entirely new. And in
turn learned something about their own creative processes.
This piece is well written with a
high energy vibe that helps the reader get excited about the possibilities
inherent in artist/writer collaborations.
The examples given are solid and easily traceable. Good, solid, essay.
Penn's essay contains both advice
and examples of true collaboration. This
piece easily has information relevant to any discussion on artist/writer
collaborations and the collaborative process itself.
Guner,
Fisun. "Listed: Poems Inspired by Paintings." The Arts Desk, 18 August, 2013.
http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/listed-poems-inspired-paintings
Guner's essay takes a look at
various writings that were inspired by works of art. It is an interesting list that has a few
generally know pieces as well some not so well known. In every case either the artist or the poet
is well known (or was in their day) making the list seem more historically important
than the other lists contained in this bibliography.
"Listed: Poems" has a
title that is a little disingenuous implying as it does that this list is all
about poems inspired by paintings when it is clearly evident that there are
paintings inspired by famous poems here as well. Still the list is very interesting.
This essay falls more into the
"inspiration" than the collaboration or even the muse camps. It will need to be mined more completely for
relevancy but is unlikely to contain any concrete references, or much
relevancy, for the project at hand.
Brown,
Carrie M.D. "Creativity and Collaboration: It's All About Trust and One
Mind Catalyzing Another." Psychology
Today, 30 March, 2013. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-creativity-cure/201303/creativity-and-collaboration
Dr. Brown's piece is a "mind
set" piece arguing that all great collaborations require good
collaborators. That an open and trusting
mind as well as an honest evaluation of self is the starting point for
successful joint projects. She goes on
to explain different approaches to the collaborative process, including use of
the "muse" in sparking and sustaining creative force.
"Creativity and
Collaboration" is a much more scientific look at how collaborators work
with one another to foster creativity in each other, and in themselves. Scientific, but easy for a layman to understand. Dr. Brown is something of an expert on
creativity having written a book on the subject, and is in fact, referenced in
one of the other listings in this bibliography.
This essay has interesting
information to use to formulate an approach to look inside your own head, to
evaluate yourself as a potential collaborator and to evaluate potential
partners. Completely different from any
of the other references listed in this bibliography this piece nonetheless
appears to contain information that give good insight into artistic
collaborations.
Brown,
Griselda Murray. "The Joys and Perils of Artistic Collaborations." Financial
Times, 14 March, 2014. https://www.ft.com/content/6c0b279e-a9ed-11e3-adab-00144feab7de
This is an illuminating essay using
historical examples of collaborations between, mostly, painters and other
visual artists.
Brown's piece is entertaining and
interesting, making the case that the true mark of a successful collaboration
is in the effect it has on each of the partner's creative approaches to their
own art, not the success or, lack there of, the finished piece. This essay determines well the
"light" approach to essay writing.
That a craft essay can make a serious point and yet still be a good
read. It is joyous.
"Joys and Perils" ends the
piece with perhaps the best quote for what an essay about the collaborative
process is about. It is about opening
one's own processes and approach, and thereby opening our own writing.
Block,
Allison. "Poets and Musicians
Discuss Collaboration, Creation." Blogs.MiaMioh.edu, Miami University/Miami
University Creative Writing Department, 14 November, 2016, https://blogs.miamioh.edu/creativewriting/2016/12/tbt-poets-and-musicians-discuss-collaboration-creation/ Accessed 28 February, 2017.
Block's blog piece is a partial
transcript of a panel discussion held at the University of Miami in November of
2016. The panel seated the poet Janice
Lowe, Leaving CLE: Poems of Nomadic
Dispersal, and Yohann Potico a musician, composer and playwright. The discussion was about musically
collaborations between poets and musicians.
This is a short piece containing
only a few questions for each panelist without much follow-up. Janice Lowe, however, is excellent in her
answers.
The points that Lowe brings up in
her answers make this piece extremely relevant for this craft essay on
collaboration. More so because she is so
accomplished as a poet and essayist in her own right—adding credibility and
relevancy to any piece about the collaborative process for writers.
Garrett,
Natalie Eve, editor. The Artists and Writers Cookbook. Powerhouse Books, 2016.
The
Artists and Writers Cookbook is a collaborative project of contemporary
artists and writers containing art and writings coupled with the recipes that
inspired, or vice versa. It is a new
formulation of an old book of the same name from 1961.
This book is a bit of a lark but
contains some interesting art and writing (and recipes). Squirrel gumbo, Mississippi ratatouille, and
Iranian gormeh complete with bombs there are some gems here.
This book demonstrates what can
occur when artists seek to collaborate on a project of dubious commercial
worth. Let lose to write what they wish,
paint or draw what they wish and eat what they wish they can feed their
creative minds, their souls and their bodies as well. I just want to use this so bad.
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