Some context: Near and Far is about artists and creatives and how they fare within interdisciplinary collaborations. When I conducted interviews for this project I asked people to comment on any problems that they have experienced in working with artists. But I also asked about the benefits. And I placed this defense right up the front of the book.
What do you think? Have you seen any artists or creatives walk problematic behaviour into a collaborative space?
In my experience, most artists are fantastic collaborators.
Most art forms are collaborative. Some – like filmmaking – are highly collaborative. Even a relatively lonely vocation like writing still needs the input of others (an editor, an illustrator) at some point. Creatives can be people who actively seek out opportunities to work with others such as someone who is drawn to the collaborative practice of theatre. And some, like my introverted self, might not crave the presence of others to the same degree. But after months of tapping away at this manuscript by myself, it was a real pleasure to work with my illustrator, Rebecca Stewart, on the cover for this book. When I used to work as an arts manager, I found witnessing the process of other artists I worked with to be a genuine privilege and have always found the process of creative work and collaboration to be fascinating.
Most artists are completely alive to how dependent they are on the support of others in the making of good work. Most nurture a lively curiosity about the practice of other artists. Through the trial and error of the lived experience of taking part in artistic collaborations, most understand how important collegiality, respect, reciprocity, communicativeness, and open-mindedness are to working with others.
There is a cliché of the ‘sensitive artiste’, the hyper-attuned and emotionally raw creature that functions almost wholly on an emotional plane. If there is a kernel of truth to this, it’s that making art requires vulnerability. Artists put so much of themselves into their art. Making art with others demands an enormous amount of emotional and affective labour. And this is something that many artists develop to a beneficial degree, becoming adept at teamwork and the mechanisms of mutual support.
However, there are a few immature or jaded or traumatised or selfish souls who hide behind the façade of the diva, of behaving as if they are ‘special’ and somehow inhabiting a different behavioural realm to other more mundane souls. These artists are in the minority. But their effect is felt and the reputation of artists as being difficult or ineffectual is entrenched by the bad behaviour of a few.
This is why I wanted to address the issues head on. But I do ask you to bear in mind, in reading the next couple of extracts, that most artists are, in fact, excellent to work with.