Collab Reflections - Installment 1

Believe it or not (I don't), the collaboration is already over and I've already had a week to process it. Internet access at the site was not available, with many technical issues spoiling my plan to blog daily during the event. In all honesty, I can't imagine having been able to meet that goal anyway - not only was I working at my bench from 6AM - 11PM, but I just didn't have enough perspective yet to be able to sort out the most crucial bits to share with you. Now that I've had some time, I will start posting installments as often as I can (internet access allowing).

I'll start at the very beginning. I arrived in Auckland at 5AM on April 19, the day the event began. After a 3-hour layover and several cups of coffee, I boarded a puddle-jumper to Whangarei Airport, which has all of one gate for arrivals and departures!


After some confusion about my ride to the collab site, I found my way to the beautiful Manaia campgrounds where the collaboration would be held. Some people had already arrived, and the rest were slowly trickling in.

The site is an Baptist camp site, with no facilities other than the usual kitchen, baths and dorms. The "studios" that were set up for this event were far better equipped than I had expected - especially the small metals area. I had my own jeweler's bench, which was nicer than the one I work on at home,
thanks to Steve Haywood, a Kiwi jeweler and my host as an international artist. You can see Steve's work here. The small metals area - and my work station - was situated at the main entrance of the dining/gathering hall, which I soon found was simultaneously the most public and loneliest place on the premises. It was always in the middle of the action though, and I was able to do some very discreet observing from behind my bench pin...

It turns out I was mistaken about the number of artists who were invited to this event - only about 75 were in attendance (not 100), and that was more than usual - making me even more humbled by my invitation. Many internationally-renowned artists were there. I won't mention any big names in this post, though, because one of the things that makes these events successful is when all artists leave their egos at the gate. This goes for established and emerging artists alike.

As an observer, the one thing that really struck me was the great arc of ego each individual seemed to be faced with throughout the course of the week. I'll speak from my own experience which, based on the feedback I got from others, was fairly typical. When I first arrived, my energy was really turned outward, trying to figure out who everyone was and what role they played. Next, I found myself searching for where I fit in/with whom I might fit. Through the process of collaborating with other artists, we all found our egos challenged. For me, it was a rollercoaster ride between feeling like my opinion MUST be right to wondering if they made a mistake by inviting me at all. The eventual total breakdown of self-assurance allowed me to put aside my ego and provided for an opening to the process of deep collaboration.

Not everyone experienced this as a positive, of course. I saw some participants who were very clearly broken by the process, and who could not wait to return to the comfortable solitude of their own studios. Some worked alone on pieces. Some complained loudly about the work that was done by other artists on "their piece." A friend of mine asked me how we might make sure that these people, who were "clearly a bad fit" for these events, did not get invited in the future. My answer was that the people playing these roles were just as integral to the whole dynamic as everyone else, and if we took them away, someone else would take on their roles. It's that special balance we're after.