The Correspondence Project was the main project I worked on during my second semester at The Burren College of Art. It expanded on my interest in the collaborative process. I recruited 14 writers from the USA and from Ireland. The 14 included professional writers, writing students, poets, song writers, amateurs, journalists and playwrights. Some I knew and others I had never met and found through placing an advertisement.
The only real limitation I set was that the exchanges would be easy to send and download via email. I limited my drawings to black and white as a quality control since color varies among computers and printers.
I sent each writer the same initial drawing. They then sent me a written piece in response. At that point the project split into individual correspondences between myself and each of the 14 writers. Some of the 14 correspondences were extremely prolific, while others petered out fairly soon. This was an expected part of the project and in my opinion was an intriguing aspect that made me question why did things end at the point they did.
For me this was a wonderful experience. It was challenging and rewarding. It expanded the relationships I had with the writers I already knew and introduced me to new people with whom I felt a strong sympathy of ideas. I had planned to continue The Correspondence Project until I graduated, but that does not appear to be possible right now. I renewed a romantic relationship with one of the writers while working with him on the project. With the failure of that relationship I found it impossible to continue. I may pick it back up eventually, but not quite yet.
I am currently contacting some of my collaborators and other writers to start a new project that will be similar to this one, but hopefully less in my control. I would like to initiate this one with us submitting simultaneously, inspired by the collaborative work of Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage.
The only real limitation I set was that the exchanges would be easy to send and download via email. I limited my drawings to black and white as a quality control since color varies among computers and printers.
I sent each writer the same initial drawing. They then sent me a written piece in response. At that point the project split into individual correspondences between myself and each of the 14 writers. Some of the 14 correspondences were extremely prolific, while others petered out fairly soon. This was an expected part of the project and in my opinion was an intriguing aspect that made me question why did things end at the point they did.
For me this was a wonderful experience. It was challenging and rewarding. It expanded the relationships I had with the writers I already knew and introduced me to new people with whom I felt a strong sympathy of ideas. I had planned to continue The Correspondence Project until I graduated, but that does not appear to be possible right now. I renewed a romantic relationship with one of the writers while working with him on the project. With the failure of that relationship I found it impossible to continue. I may pick it back up eventually, but not quite yet.
I am currently contacting some of my collaborators and other writers to start a new project that will be similar to this one, but hopefully less in my control. I would like to initiate this one with us submitting simultaneously, inspired by the collaborative work of Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage.
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