March 2nd: Revisiting the idea of "WE" (Rogoff)

I was drawn to this article because my assumption that “collectivity is positive in art practice” was sort of rattled by the Ranciere article (Emancipated Spectator).

Is everything just a failure to be a collective?
(this article does seem to argue that collectivity is an ideal)

To argue against any kind of isolation seems a bit unnecessary now that art has become so participatory.

In the making of the thing, you have to deal with other people (and the audience) – even if you are a director with a whip, a dictator, not interested in creating collectively.

Isn’t there always a tension between individual and collective (monkeys – if they have strong physical relationship with the mother, they go exploring. If not, they are less adventurous.) Important to have people with different amounts of interest in collective.

‘Seems to be quite a move towards individualization right now.’
‘Really? I thought we were coming out of it.’

People are fearful of “being the director” and of being authoritative. But it is useful to have someone who is in charge, is an expert.

Power of participation and mutuality (mob mentality of post-gold medal game).
Yes, we have history to prove that collectivity can produce scary things, but there is also the flipside:
Emergent care in group situations (power of collectivity) … also at Olympics.

Usefulness of rules. Structure enables creativity. Rules breed freedom.

‘There are always rules, so if you don’t say what they are, people are left out’

Does an orchestra need an conductor?

Creating a valuable feedback loop – the usefulness of the outside eye, just because they are outside me. Importance of sharing as part of process.

Dynamic system that is always at play. Rehearsal as way of being where contribution is from many directions. Giving authority to participants (giving permission to people that don’t necessarily have expertise).

Difference between collectivity (in performance setting) and collaboration (in rehearsal setting).

Collaboration allows you to learn to communicate more, allows other people to help you define yourself in a way.

‘Seems like I can forget that working in isolation is also important‘

Difference between working collaboratively (having someone to push against) and working in isolation ... and constraints/rules as an artist individually versus an artist working within a group

Developing understanding of my rules with different people.

Fatigue of collaboration?

Edward de Bono: more Noble Prize winners per capita in Britain because they work alone (can sit with ideas and not have to translate them into some kind of vague/common language).

Isolation as a way to concentrate and distill your thoughts/style/artistic choices without coming into contact with limiting thoughts/assumptions/etc of others.

When you do have essential moment of contact after this isolated bout, it is very important that it is something helpful.

Improvisation as common tool in dance.

Mathematicians: when you solve a problem, ‘what do I do now’?

Is improvisation a means or an end?

Misha’s birthday party? What is difference between process and performance if collectivity is just coming together for arbitrary event?

Movement towards art as event (where there are two groups with different characteristics)?

Word arbitrary is difficult! Does I just like rules, but what the rules actually are is irrelevant?
(I just like temporary arbitrary rules like “no talking” for no reason)

Jacob: arbitrary = “without instruction”

Arendt quote:
"What keeps people together after the fleeting moment of actions has passed (what we today call 'organisation'), and what at the same time they keep alive through remaining together, is power".

What is my presence/practice as a spectator, as an artist?

Question: when there is no one to tell you what to see, how do you know what to go to?
(is it generational? Older people were used to having some kind of sense from somewhere of what there was to see, and what to see … )

DO we experience collectivity (like we do with the Olympics) at the theatre?

“To speak of collectivities is to de-nativise community, to argue it away from the numerous essential roots of place and race and kinship structures that have for so long been the glue that has held it together.”

So collectivity is not about a native community (my essentiality/origin/expertise is not what bring me into contact/conversation with other people) … but about my choice to arbitrarily come to this artistic event.

What’s wrong with fatigue?
It sometimes starts to feel like it would just be easier to go with someone’s rules, or to do it yourself … not to have to negotiate shared rules.

Without collaboration, I won’t get out of bed. I’m too lazy all by myself.

Is a committee a collaboration?

Everything is power (even your ability to speak in public)

Everything should be done at the appropriate level (if they can be done on a certain rung of the ladder, it shouldn’t be made/done higher up on the food chain).

People tend to delegate upwards (here are the problems, let someone above me fix it).

‘Resources and people become the laws’.

Things can fall apart when people don’t know the rules (people don’t know in what capacity they are being invited to participate if it’s not communicated) – citing “relational aesthetic piece gone wrong” at the power plant.

Artist in Vienna who ended up killing himself after trying to do collaborative work with a bunch of prostitutes (no one talks about the ethics)!