Frank Gehry makes very rough sketches of his structural designs
and then gives the sketches to others who use
sophisticated computer programs to create workable design.
This building under construction, in Lower Manhattan,
would not exist without input from literally hundreds
of stakeholders. It's base, for example, is a rather
unglamorous public building.
You won’t find many artists who say they like to collaborate.
The creative process is, by and large, a very solitary engagement. One artist. One work of art.
Put a bunch of artists of any kind on a team and ask them to produce something together and you’ve got a management problem. If you question this, just watch the incredibly nasty episode of Project Runway that aired September 8. Or go see Spider Man on Broadway, a musical that veered from being too tightly controlled to one that got workshopped into mediocrity.
In fact there is a place for collaboration in the creative process. The magic happens when you know how to collaborate and when in the process you need to collaborate.
The work we do at New Arts Collaborative — marketing and promotional projects — relies on high artistic achievement informed by clear communications.
We need to understand what our clients want. Our clients need to understand what the market wants or doesn’t know that it wants. The members of our artistic team — made up of a writer/editor/project manager, a graphic artist and illustrator, and a photographer/director — are instinctively proprietary about our work. You could say this is the artist’s way.
This Gehry building in Chelsea, off the West Side Highway,
was commissioned by a single client who asked,
for, among other things, a deck
off his office from which to view the Hudson River.
On the other hand, we are seasoned professionals who have a unique experience. We know how to collaborative. We learned collaboration when we joined forces to produce creative products that needed the talents of photographers and designers and writers and editors. Add to that the bosses and clients who must weigh in. The focus groups. And colleagues and stakeholders.
The collaborative process is essential. It’s informed by surveys, market testing, queries and answers, listening, and feedback. Then the creative process pushes back. Relaxes. Revises. Problem solves. Produces another round of work to present.
Dennis, George and I have engaged in this process hundreds of times. We love it. We are creative problem solvers who trust each other, and who’ve learned the value of knowing our client and investigating thoroughly the nature of the job.
