What:
How to work together is a shared programme of contemporary art commissioning and research organised and presented by Chisenhale Gallery, The Showroom and Studio Voltaire. Together, over three years, they are producing a series of artists’ commissions, exhibitions, events and an online think tank. They are combining our knowledge and resources to discover what they can do together that they could not have done alone.

All three galleries are committed to supporting emerging or overlooked artists with time and resources to produce and present ambitious new work.

Why we like it:
How to work together also runs a Think tank which is an ongoing online library of new research that will build over the three years. Ultimately, the collaboration, knowledge and resource sharing in this visual arts model will provide an even better platform for artists and audiences.

Upcoming events:
31 August | Studio Votaire
Bonnie Camplin, Work is the Transfer of Energy from one System to Another.

5 September | The Showroom
An Introduction to the re-branding of Morning Star with Chris Evans, Massimiliano Mollona, Dexter Sinister and Marina Vishmidt.

26 September | Chisendale Gallery
Céline Condorelli and sociologist Avery Gordon discuss research on friendship, runaways and in-differents.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

Somnambule, acrylic on watercolour paper, 35 x 26.5cm

In the past, working collaboratively was something we would discuss enthusiastically, but other projects always kept us from developing the idea further. Then in 2011 we were invited to take part in the Couples edition of the Feminality Art Show in Los Angeles. This was an exhibition where artist couples would submit one piece of artwork each and one collaboration, and gave us a very good reason to spend time experimenting with collaboration.

At first we tried working it out through discussion, which got us nowhere fast. So, because we both love drawing, we decided to just put colour pencil to paper and see what happened. The whole exercise was surprisingly easy and completely rewarding. We each began by drawing a head, or laying out a composition on separate pieces of paper. When that initial drawing reached a point where a major decision needed to be made, or if one was just ‘stuck’, it was passed over.

Falling, acrylic on watercolour paper, 28 x 26cm

This is the point where trust, or maybe faith, becomes an essential ingredient to the process. We both trust each other implicitly, and have a mutual respect for the other’s skills and ideas, so the one handing over is excited to see what happens next, and the one receiving is eager to be given a new piece where the sometimes difficult starting point is already done.

The drawings were passed back and forth, maybe five or six times, until we were both satisfied with the final outcome. The nature of this process meant we had a few drawings going at the same time, but our first completed collaboration was ‘Double-edged sword’ which we sent to the Hive Gallery for the Feminality Art Show.

Priestess, pencil and pen on paper, 45 x 30cm

Not every piece we start works out, and some of the other drawings were never completed. However, ‘Priestess’, which was one of these earlier collaborations, was received well and we were asked to make a variation of it for an American t-shirt company.

We’ve both exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute’s Annual Exhibition, and in 2012 Lynne Mackenzie, curator at the RGI Kelly Gallery, invited us to have an exhibition. This was the perfect opportunity for us to concentrate on and develop our collaborative working process.

Luna, acrylic on watercolour paper, 35.5 x 27cm

After discussing ideas, themes and the expected outcome of the work, we decided to make this an exhibition of paintings (we first met while studying Drawing & Painting at Gray’s School of Art). We agreed that acrylic paint on watercolour paper was a good meeting place for our techniques, and not too far removed from our collaborative drawing format.

We thought about the structure of the show and decided to split the work roughly into three: one third collaboration, and one third each of individual works, all sharing some common element.

The starting point for a piece might be an idea in a sketchbook, or a photo in a magazine, or a thought at that point just before sleep. Most of our faces are drawn from photos, either found or taken ourselves. Patterns and compositions usually have symbolic significance.

In the case of ‘Somnambule’, we had watched ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ (a German Expressionist film from 1920) and loved the character of the Somnambulist. That was over a year ago and, like many ideas, has taken a while to come to the surface. The execution was very similar to that of ‘Double-edged sword’, although we passed it back and forth fewer times. This is perhaps the case when we have a clearer idea of how we want the piece to look.

Double-edged sword, pencil and pen on paper, 35 x 30cm

It’s not about who painted what, as we both paint by building up layer upon layer. There are sometimes sections that won’t need changing, but it really is about working together to make the whole image, the piece going back and forth until we were both happy with the final results. The problem of us both having conflicting intentions hasn’t arisen yet. We enjoy seeing what the other will do. When we have a clear idea from the start of how a piece should look, then we don’t collaborate. Maybe ‘handing it over so you can fix this’ is a more accurate description!

Many of the individual works in the show still have a collaborative element – Pamela wanted to make a piece about the moon goddess, ‘Luna’, and in response Erlend made ‘Endymion’, her lover.

Endymion, acrylic on watercolour paper, 35.5 x 27cm

Although we photograph all our work on completion, we don’t have any photos documenting the process of a collaborative piece (sorry). The whole thing is too fragile, and we’re too immersed in it, and it’s almost like saying ‘this one’s going to work when it’s finished’, but we know it might not.

‘Duologue’ will be at the RGI Kelly Gallery, Glasgow from the 9th – 25th May 2013.

Chelsea Part 1 by Illustrators Carolyn Alexander and Coll Hamilton

Chelsea – Part 1 by illustrators Carolyn Alexander and Coll Hamilton. This is the first part of an ongoing collaborative online graphic novel. Follow the story of Amber and Chelsea as they search for one another here.

Cargo |Facebook | Twitter

Rooted collaboration between Glasgow based Iranian artist Haleh Jamali and Edinburgh based performance artist Monica De Ioanni.

Website | Vimeo | Twitter

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Discover more work by creatives we’ve featured, here.
If you have a Flickr, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Behance or Cargo account connect with us.

If you haven’t heard yet, the public are being invited to collaborate on a unique feature-length documentary film about Scotland. Northern Lights is a first in a lifetime mass participation film project funded by the Year Of Creative Scotland 2012, which aims to create a view of Scotland that goes beyond media stereotypes to reflect the lives, hopes and dreams of the people who live – or once lived – on these isles.

We’ve taken some time to talk to Nick Higgins, Creative Director of the project, to find out what tips and hints he can give you on creating your Northern Lights film. Read this, then get your submission in:

What makes a great submission?
Nick: Many things make a great submission; obviously something which stands out, says something unique or edgy is interesting but sometimes the strongest submissions are those that quite simply share a world we’ve never encountered in an honest and authentic way. It doesn’t need to be spectacular, just true to who you are and what you care about.

What should participants be asking themselves when thinking about making a video for Northern Lights?
Nick: We all have things we can video – that’s the easy part; the more interesting aspect of it is what we feel about what we see. What do you feel about your life? Does it make you happy, sad, angry, etc? What is it you want to communicate in your video? How can you convey that meaning and feeling to an audience?

What is the best way for a participant to engage with their chosen subject?
Nick: To challenge it; to find out what is unique and interesting about it. Try and share a point of view that we might not have seen before and that could be funny, angry or poetic.

What are the benefits of engaging with a subject in this way?
Nick: It makes for a more compelling video. But also, you may find something new in that subject, and you may find something new in yourself. It’s like keeping a diary; it’s not until we express how we feel about something that we really come to terms with what we think. This is why video diaries are so interesting. Why not keep one for the next three months?

What makes a video engaging?
Nick: This comes from you being engaged emotionally and personally with your subject. It also comes from asking questions about your subject; you don’t always need to know the answer but a good question or observation is always involving.

What else should we think about before we get started?
Nick: Don’t think too much, trust yourself. The key is to get started. Submissions are open for three months and you might be surprised by how engaged people are by a world you perhaps take for granted. This really is a chance to re-discover Scotland through the eyes and thoughts of the people who live here.

Get involved here.
Follow Northern Lights on Twitter here.
Visit Northern Lights on Facebook here.

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Find out about more opportunities and calls for submissions here.

Sam Spreckley is an artist interested in moving image and sound design, plus a little animation and illustration on the side.

Leg Bound is a collaborative piece Sam worked on recently with Dutch sound designer, Urkelle (aka Steve Mensink).

See more work from Sam on Vimeo.
Find out more about Sam here.

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Discover more work by creatives on our creative networks here.
If you have a Flickr, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Behance or Cargo account connect with us.

Anna Bruce is an Edinburgh based artist who works in a variety of mediums including film, sculpture & photography.

What’s in the blog:
Anna’s blog is a mix of documentation of past exhibitions, as well as posts about her current work. It’s a very clever resource of Anna’s work and who she’s worked with.

Why we like it:
As well as being a visual delight, we like that Anna’s artist statement seems to evolve. There are insights into what she as an artists, and as a person, is learning through her research and collaborative projects. It’s a nice touch.

Hidden treasure:
Tucked away in one of her posts, Anna mentions a participatory project she runs called STREET-SIDE, which essentially is a collection of photographs of interesting roadside attractions (or distractions). Its well worth a look.

Where to find out more:
Read Anna’s blog here.
Follow Anna Bruce on Twitter.
Contribute to STREET-SIDE here.

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Want to take a look at more suggested blogs by artists? Look here.

THE ADAM AND EVE PROJECTS is a new web based broadcast bringing together the most exciting and important shapers and definers of our cultural landscape in one location. Here the most iconic and emerging creative people / the most respected institutions / and the most progressive brands worldwide, are all in a direct conversation with a global audience hungry for all arenas of cultural production.

Ranging from the informal and spontaneous to the meticulous and long term, exclusive cross disciplinary collaborative projects curated by The Adam and Eve Projects are announced weekly, with ongoing live discussion from these and other esteemed creatives.

Only the most respected and new emerging creative people worldwide, from fields as diverse as Art, Film, Music, Architecture, Fashion, Literature, Design, …. take part. These projects, created across a broad range of media including, video, photography, product, written and spoken word, and illustration are seen alongside direct correspondence from the worlds most progressive and respected brands and institutions.

Browse through the pages of Adam & Eve here.
Find Adam & Eve on Facebook here.
Follow Adam & Eve on Twitter here.

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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

1.  CHCH 220212 Type Branding Poster Project
Behance
Peter Godkin

Both a call for collaboration & a creative response to a natural disaster, the aim of this project is to bring the World’s attention to the continuing problems of the People of Christchurch. The intention is to show support not only to the general public, but to fellow creatives in Christchurch as well. See updates on the project here.

2. Papergirl Zagreb
Twitter – @PapergirlZagreb
Ivana Rezek

If you aren’t familiar with Papergirl, it is a project that seeks to bring art to the community in a new, exciting and participatory way; directly and freely by bicycle. It happens in cities all over the work. Papergirl Zabreb are currently looking for your art to spread around the streets of Croatia’s capital.

3. Sketch a Day
Facebook
Artist

Hoping to inspire a year of drawing, the artist is on a mission to create a sketch a day throughout 2012 and is encouraging input from the public.

4. Smile Project
Behance
Marek Wysoczynski

Originated in Poland, this project is calling for your smiles. The idea is that people from all over the world submit their “autograph” in the form of an image of their smile, the smiles will then be exhibited in Children’s hospitals globally.

5. 28 Drawings Later: February Drawing Challenge
Facebook
Victoria Evans

This is a drawing challenge and social networking project created by Visual Artist Victoria Evans. The result iss an evolving, month-long, participatory online gallery which encourages everyone, artists and non-artists alike, to see what might happen if they made time to draw every day for a month.

Do you have a project that needs creative input? Let us know in the comments below.

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See more Top 5′s selected from the network here.

Matthew Dalziel is a visual artist who works in collaboration with Louise Scullion. Their studio creates artworks in photography, video, sound and sculpture that explore new artistic languages around the subject of ecology. These are Matthew’s his first five jobs.
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1 Turner and Miller with The National Coal Board
My first real job after leaving school lasted six months and it was an apprenticeship as a Motor Mechanic. I can remember how cold it was working under the cars in a leaky, drafty, oily garage especially in winter. I left this job as I was accepted on as an apprentice Turner and Miller with the National Coal Board which became British Coal. I served my four-year apprenticeship and worked another three years as a time served worker. Working for the National Coal Board was supposed to be a job for life but the collisions that took place between Thatcher and Scargill made it clear that the industry was on its knees, it was obvious there was no long term future in the form that the community that I came from would recognise, in many ways it was this that created the impetus for me look further afield, so I attended night classes locally got some highers and applied successfully to Art College.

2 Salvesen Pea Factory
During the four years of my art school training I worked at various job but the most memorable of these was at the Christian Salvesen Pea Factory, I can honestly say this was the hardest physical work I ever took on! My then flat mate, Iain Nicoll, who was studying engineering at Dundee and now runs a very successful Alternative Energy Business worked there every summer, it was both tedious and relentless, I still can’t look at a frozen pea without feeling the burn of the rake we had to use to coax pods into the shelling machine. Ian and I now meet annually to go trout and salmon fishing, he insists on accompanying every meal with… peas.

3 Co Director of Image & Installation
My Art School training took me to Dundee, then Newport in Gwent Wales and finally to Glasgow School of Art. Leaving Art School can be a tricky time because momentum can be lost and friends and allies may go their separate ways. I was fortunate that I made some really close friends and we pulled our ideas and energies to come up with some schemes and plans to keep afloat. I graduated in 1989, which was just before Glasgow’s year as European City of Culture.  Myself, Stevie Hurel and Oladele Bamgaboye thought that if we got together and formed an organisation or group we might have a better chance of accessing funding from both The Scottish Arts Council (now Creative Scotland) and also the many companies who wanted to get involved in the year of culture.
Our blue sky, or grey sky thinking it was Glasgow after all, mainly took place in two sorts of venues, a nice restaurant if we had any cash (Olly was a bit of a foodie) but mostly in the pub. We came up with some ideas and managed to write and present them competently enough to persuade The Scottish Arts Council to part with a healthy sum of cash and many local venues and companies donated their spaces, electrical kit, high fi gear, catering etc. For this they all received advertising in our brochures, invites etc and their friends all came along to the various openings and events. This taught me two things firstly that I enjoyed working in collaboration with others and secondly if you approach someone or some company, business etc with a good idea they might actually support it.

4 Artist in Industry with Shell
Image & Installation like all bright stars shone fiercely for a short period of time basically when the 1990 year of culture ended and we all went our separate ways. What to do next? The Scottish Arts Council’s news letter was my first port of call when looking for interesting opportunities and I saw advertised four one year long posts as Artist in Industry. This was brilliant for me as my previous experience as a Motor Mechanic and Turner and Millar was very useful at the interview and the Image & Installation documentation proved my artistic capabilities. I managed to secure one of the posts and moved to Peterhead in the north east coast of Scotland to work at the St Fergus Gas Plant. This was a brilliant experience, if a bit lonely, as I was the only artist among hundreds of engineers and oil workers (they called me ‘Picasso’!). It introduced me to this part of Scotland and I had access to images and material that no other artist had access to. I made a body of work there, which got selected for The British Art Show which really shot my career forward.

5 Artist in Residence for Banff & Buchan
I loved the landscape and seascape around Fraserburgh and Peterhead and after leaving the residency I decided to stay on in the area and try and make more work. I found a cottage for rent in a small fishing village called St Combs, which was very cheap and was close to the sea. Another very nice by-product of being in the British art show was that I met Louise Scullion who was also selected for that show, at the time she was working in another residency within the NHS, but through talks we each gave at the British Art Show, we recognised that although we worked in very different ways we share many overlapping interests. When Louise finished her Aberdeen residency she moved to St Combs and we started making work together but we had no source of income. A few months later we saw some posts advertised (locally and on The Scottish Arts Council newsletter) for artists in residency in Banff & Buchan. The head of arts development was a great guy called Ian McAuley who managed to raise enough money to have a dancer, writer, musician and visual artist in residence for a period of a few years. Louise and I joint shared the post, which had a salary of £15,000 per year, which was fantastic. Our first job was to compile an inventory of all the artists working in Banff & Buchan, this is a huge area and a lot of work but we met some fantastic people who we are still in contact with today. Louise and I started to create works together as Dalziel+ Scullion inspired by our location that had some of the biggest geo-related industries in Europe as well as remaining relatively remote and ‘slightly’ wild.

*    *    *
… We ran our artistic partnership from our base in St Combs for eleven more years, developing and refining our philosophy of work and creating a brand of sorts. We made two very important works while at St Combs The Horn on the M8 motorway, this work opened us up to public art commissions, and the other work was Sargassum, which was selected for the Venice Biennale and lead to solo exhibitions at the CCA Glasgow, The Arnolfini, Bristol and The Ikon in Birmingham. In 2001 we moved to Dundee, we have been working together as Dalziel + Scullion for eighteen years, with nature, ecology and landscape at the core of everything we do. Our work has been shown all over the world and is in many collections, despite the current economic climate we are busier than we ever have been.

More: Website

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.