#collaborationindustryreport

Off The Press Collective - ‘Paperback’ at Norwich Arts Center

Yesterday, Off The Press Collective took their exhibition ‘Paperback’ to Norwich Arts Center. I attended the opening of it that evening. It was interesting seeing the exhibition in a new location with a very different atmosphere. Having it in a more gallery-like location certainly made it feel more like a ‘proper’ exhibition. They had also created new signage for this location such as the two wooden panels in the top pictures which I thought worked really well as it gave much more information about the Collective and the project than the exhibition in Bury St Edmunds. They also showed some of the collective’s work outside of the theme of ‘Paperback’. My favorite was the screenprints based on the film Labyrinth by James Treadaway (bottom right). 

As a result of receiving no responses from the collectives I had contacted, I began to look elsewhere for an insight into the practical and creative benefits of working in a collective.

Big Orange Studio is a more local collective that I was able to receive some responses via email. I emailed Toby Morison; who used to be part of the collective.

Secondary research: Peepshow Collective

In order to gather some more research for my collaboration industry report, I went to the university library and found this book on Peepshow Collective. The book includes a lot of first hand research gathered from an in depth interview, conducted by Peter Nencini & Freya Faulkner.  

It was really interesting to learn more about how the collective started, how they work together and what they are doing now. Within my report, I am focusing on the creative and practical benefits of being a collective. I have extracted some information that I think is relevant to my report:

PN: “...You’ve talked about what you’ve learnt from the person in the neighbouring workspace...not through direct collaboration, but just by the proximity of their method, tools, set-up, rhythm, habit. Can we discuss specific examples?”

LV: “With Luke, it was just a freedom to “do”; just to get on with it and play. And I don’t really have that.” “...I’m not very good at playing or mark-making and I think being next to Luke is...it’s nice to watch someone do something that’s so completely at odds with the way you do it”.

LB: “What’s good about those things is that maybe it affirms something in yourself...You can appreciate what someone is doing but it actually helps you reaffirm your own philosophy behind the work. I find that really good, across the board.”

AR: “But I’d say Spencer’s colour and composition has most definitely been inspiring because you’ve always had a very natural skill for composition”

LV: “I also found that being in a room and having somebody...there pushes you harder and stops you being lazy. I don’t just want to sit there and “bosh” something out because I’ll feel embarrassed about it.” “...I want to live up to what everyone else is doing, definitely”.

ET: “...I did work alongside Spencer at Southwark College and his constant desire to adapt his work is something which rubbed off on me. He did influence me into changing my style and my use of colour. Although conceptually my work is very much the same beast it’s always been”.

LB: “...working alongside Pete-he’s a really good animator- but actually his real talent is in direction and how to tell a story by not showing the action...That’s helped me...sometimes I will think about the ambient noise; I can turn that into a drawing...”

PN: “In direct collaboration with another, how has your work- practically, conceptually- been affected?...”

AR: “...I’m working on this film- with Pete...all my work is, basically, about line. So, to drop the line has felt quite drastic. It’s been a really interesting process...”

CM: “I learnt I have a tendency to go too clean and polished and tasteful- which are the things I don’t like about my work. Working with Marie on If You Could: Collaborate, I learnt that you can do something that’s a bit “off”, or that you can use a colour you don’t instinctively go for...”

PN: “So, does it make business sense for you to be a collective? Is that a business model?”

MD: “...we couldn’t operate the way we go about projects now without being a business and having a joint bank account. We got to the point in the old studio in Bethnal Green where we were dipping into our pockets every five minutes, to build a pot of money in order to do something. It just doesn’t make sense”.

LV: “...it comes down to the fact that we’re all quite individual. We’ve tried several things but we’re so individual that it will never be anything other than what it is”.

Below is a transcript of the interview I conducted with Off the Press Collective via email re-typed for ease of reading.

 Why and how did you decide to start the collective?

We were initially faced with our home town being without an art gallery when Smith's Row shut it's doors. We decided to use our facilities and passion for screen printing to put on a themed exhibition using a local business to showcase the towns creative talent. The collective was born!

 How do you organise the running of the collective?

The core of the Collective (Anna, James and Sam) sit around drinking tea and coffee while chatting about all the cool things we could do until we are all settled on an idea. We then keep chipping away on other ideas and will send messages and pics on themes & colourways etc as they pop in to our little head's!

 Why do you choose to collaborate with different, individuals outside of the collective for your editions? 

There are so many awesome artists around and we have made some wicked links with people from all over the country from different creative backgrounds. We are inspired me by these diversely wonderful people and want others to be too!

 How has being in a collective helped the people within it?

It pushes us to be proactive and engage with business and audience's​ we wouldn't normally be involved with separately...After all there is strength in numbers. We inspire and push one another to be creative and share.

 Do you find that being in a collective has made it easier for local artists to get exposure - especially being outside of London?

Atelier Populaire

Atelier Populaire were a collaborative graphic design studio formed in response to the Paris student uprisings of May 1968. On 14 May students and artists occupied the lithography studios of the École des Beaux-Arts with the intention of creating prints in support of the revolution, establishing the Atelier Populaire (the Popular Workshop). They were protesting against a number of things - the main themes in their work being the denouncement of prime minister De Gaulle and opposition to parliament, opposition to police power, criticism of capitalism, defense of people power, unity between students and workers, and support of the strikers across France. One of the main themes was also the state control of the media - something which them aimed to overcome through their work. As the media belonged to the government, making posters was a means of communication that the students and the strikers had that they could “rest assured was untainted and undoctored.”

Atelier Populaire produced graphic posters; most of which were silkscreen prints, in single colours on newsprint given by printers who supported their cause. These posters proclaimed their views against the government and were paired with bold, graphic illustrations. The individual designers were never credited and were only seen as the work of the collective as “a rebuttal to bourgeois capitalist values.” The workshops were run by general assemblies. Each night poster designs were submitted anonymously for debate and were voted on according to the questions ‘Is the political message correct?’ and ‘Does the poster transmit this idea well?”.

Secondary research: Peepshow Collective

Peepshow create energetic and vibrant animations, for a range of clients.

“Peepshow has created animations for clients such as Diesel, Dominos, Nike, Philips, SHOWstudio, Toyota and the London 2012 Olympic Games – and also worked on sequences for various channels including BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic and MTV. Recent plaudits include an Emmy award for Outstanding Motion Design for its work on the BBC-commissioned documentary series How We Got To Now. Initially founded in 2000, Peepshow comprises and combines the talents of a number of hugely influential individual practitioners in the visual arts. The studio has garnered an international reputation for excellence, representing the best of British at expos for the British Council and also the Museum of Modern Art in Japan. Peepshow has also featured in shows at the ICA, the Hayward Gallery and Pick Me Up at Somerset House. “

Off the Press Collective Q and A

I decided to get in contact with Off the Press Collective, as I was interested in finding out more about their working process. I asked them about the way in which the collective was structured, why they chose to collaborate with individual artists, how the collective has helped the artists involved and a few other things (see first image).