Pivotal – art, writing, environment | ways to collaborate, Saturday 25 November 2017

This workshop, run by mother and daughter Jeni Smith and Alice Finbow, was the starting point for collaborative conversations and ways to generate ideas between and across visual and text-based media. People who attended were not necessarily working already in a collaborative process, or indeed mothers ad daughters…..

The workshop introduced a number of ways in which artists / writers could collaborate on projects. Mother and Daughter relationships are tricky at the best of times, however Jeni Smith and Alice Finbow took this to a new level by working collaboratively on a project on a remote Finnish Island. What they learnt from this process has been turned in to an artist’s book, Pivotal, but the learning is still happening!

This workshop acted as the starting point for collaborative conversations and ways to generate ideas between and across visual and text-based media. It involved storytelling, writing, photography (using camera phones) and was punctuated by gales of laughter. Dr Jenifer Smith and Alice Finbow gave a reading and slide show from their collaborative project Pivotal.

Collaborations within the arts have been going on since time began, but understanding how the work is created can at times seem veiled and difficult to understand when collaborative outcomes can often feel effortless. Who made what? What conversations were had? Were the expectations and hopes of both parties realised? It is a complex process, even finding the right person to collaborate with can feel like an impossible task at times!

If you are keen on writing, on mixing words and images, using one to stimulate and inspire the other, then our writing workshops will be for you. They are becoming a regular thing and we have a star-line up of experienced and talented poets, writers and artists to inspire you. Sign up to our email list to be the first to know about future events at GroundWork.