On the nature of collaborations

Listening Post

There are a variety of options. One could just listen to the recordings and leave. Or use the stations to sit or recline on for a while. I dislike being under pressure myself, and would not inflict it on anyone else. Contrived interactions are not really the way I work. There has to be a mutual spark.

old tunes new tunes

But, having called for a contribution from a good friend and having received it, I feel a sense of responsibility. Perhaps he does not work in the way that I do, and is rather more insistent that the viewer/spectator should make an effort. Fair enough. So far, people have felt shy to do so. Old tunes new tunes also seems to require time and concentration. A workshop might do it – the idea was reinforced by an artist friend voicing the same feeling. Further, she was actively interested in trying it out, but was unprepared, in terms of scheduling it into her life. There must surely be others who feel the same.

A facilitator working with a group might provide a different kind of energy, working in isolation is daunting at the best of times. I should know it, being a painter.

When I spoke at the University, the question of whether collaborations work or not came up. There was the fear that one person could hijack the entire effort.

As far as listening post is concerned, the collaboration was what happened when Sarosh Anklesaria and I designed it together, and when Sandeep Bhagwati contributed a piece. The latter is an autonomous piece, I merely have the permission to include it in the repertoire. Similarly, any piece that might result from the workshop could be taken away and a mere trace left behind, I do not claim authorship for everything that it includes. Perhaps it would make me happy if the author acknowledged the source, but the piece belongs to him/her, it could be shown or performed independent of myself or listening post. We are not wedded for life.

What would happen at the workshops need not be collaborations, they could be intersections. One need not work towards a full-fledged performance. One could think in terms of working out relationships, rather than composing something specific. Unless one wanted to.