These studio photos and films document some of the data gathering methods behind my research inquiry around tbC’s collaborative arts and joint authorship practice and how this practice supports young artists in building artistic agency and status.
The walls of tbC’s studio spaces are usually used to present works-in-progress and, at times, to exhibit finished artworks. However, I have also used them to collate and reflect on the data gathered during the making of the four case studies at the centre of this artistic inquiry. As these case studies are also tbC’s major projects, this was not a disruptive exercise.
I found this in-studio approach very useful for collecting, sorting and reflecting on my field notes. I regularly used the studio walls to build large-scale mind maps, or what I sometimes refer to as giant wall hung visual diaries. The process began with notes generated at the time of each case study artwork’s making and presentation, followed by a process of reflection – visual, written and dialogical.
Just like the way artist members of tbC collaborated in the making of the case study artworks at the centre of this investigation, artist members were routinely involved in the in-studio reflections on and analysis of case study data. This collective in-practice examination of the subject of this investigation profoundly informed and shaped its trajectory and outcome.
The films included here reflect the relaxed, conversational setting of the tbC studio, from which many of tbC’s dialogical artworks emerged. The two Art of Conversation works being key examples. This conversational setting and dialogical arts practice has profoundly informed the artistic inquiry around tbC’s collaborative arts and joint authorship practice.