Drawing on an experience of collaborating within the studio, discuss this quote: “I always find that if two (or more) of us throw ideas backwards and forwards I get to more interesting and original places than I could have ever have gotten to on my own” (Cleese, John 1991 A lecture on creativity, – 27:20mins).
Collaboration. The life blood of creative practice. Without collaboration, many ideas wouldn’t have the space to develop. The freedom to grow in a sort of ‘no strings attached’ environment. A place where ideas can fly without consequences. That being said, it can often be dominated by louder voices.
During the collaborative task around the short film I’ll Wait for the Next One (Orreindy, 2002), I have found this quote to be mostly true. During this exercise, in which we were asked to develop the world and expand it beyond the possible inciting incident shown in the short film, I found that each of us and our ideas had much more freedom. We didn’t feel the need to live up to the critical voice in our heads, telling us we ‘couldn’t write that’ or that something was ‘stupid’. Instead the act of collaboration encouraged us to freely create.
That being said, I found that my ideas constantly came to the forefront whether good or bad, in comparison to the other ideas. Perhaps that had something to do with the way my mind works, often insular thinking that blurts out in its frequently bombastic and driven nature, derailing the current stream of thought and jumping onto the next one. Often breaking form and going on very strange tangents and down rabbit holes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying my ‘monkey’ brain is somehow too strange to work ‘properly’ in terms of idea generation, more that when it comes to creative collaboration, my tangential thinking tends to make the loudest impact, which can often hinder the art of collaboration as not all voices are heard the same, and can often be unintentionally drowned out.
Collaboration can often be like the virality of media. Clinging onto the ideas only when they stick out, catch our attention and become popular, no matter the shelf life of the idea. So many good ideas fall to the wayside, because the fact is, there are limitless numbers of them. It can often be hard, especially in collaboration, to find and stick to an idea, as every creative individual involved knows only too well how a great idea, while once attractive can turn sour, and the disposable nature of ideas is revealed.
To be honest, this is a very cynical image of collaboration. It describes more what lies under the surface of all group work – combating egos, perspectives and understandings. This is not to say that the surface isn’t valuable and enjoyable. That what goes on around you, when these individual-centric ideas don’t cloud the practice. When you are truly collaborating, you are in the thick of a mess of ideas, positivity and sparks flying everywhere. The truest form of creative inspiration and creative freedom.
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