Do I deserve to be a designer? This spring, when I applied for internships, one studio wanted to point out that they had seen many of my works on the website of a classmate of mine that had applied at their office, too. They mentioned that they understand that as students one does engage in a lot of collective projects. But during this conversation my interlocutor kept a smirk on his lips as he asked how I feel about it. Did he mean that the works in my portfolio are only 50% mine since they were joint efforts and therefore my skills were only half accountable? This thought confused and angered me, of course also arising from personal doubts regarding my own skills as aspiring designer. Herein lies the paradox: the ability to work within a team is definitely a 21 century skill, it is listed in nearly every job requirement and I usually mention it as reason 'why you should hire me'. ¹ On the other hand in a world mostly run with the idea of capitalism individualism and competition are accelerated. I identify with my work, and feel that I am my work, so every professional failure also becomes a personal one. By not producing individual works I could be perceived as not having an own opinion (highest crime as an art student) why would I even be a designer?

Every time I am part of collaborations I am amazed anew of the taken path and obtained results. This surprise about the final outcome is for sure one of the main thrills for me. There seems to be a portion of magic to it, that is, I guess, the essence of synergy. Depending of my degree of involvement I can recognize bits of my own aesthetics and choices, altered and combined with those of others. Is this how parents look mesmerized at their offspring? Recognizing personality traits and nose curvatures of their own or the partner and then wondering how that curly hair came about? And why is it more fun to make a collective brainchild? ² Am I simply satisfying my need of collective effervescence? That special feeling of connection with others that we all long for as hyper social creatures?  ^{3 4}

The topic of collaboration seems to be on everyone's lips: to talk about collaborations and the communities in which they take place is also to speak about inclusion and exclusion, institutions and a certain dominant culture. In the Xenofeminist Manifesto collaborations are said to have the potential to counter and reveal dominant (gender) regimes by generating solidarity among marginalized groups, and creating new spaces for experimentation that ignited cyberfeminism in the nineties.  ⁵ Commoning practices in cities emerge out of discussions about sustainability: projects like communal gardens, crowd sourcing, the sharing of public spaces and new forms of collaborating like co-working spaces all build upon the power of unity. ^{6 7} Can this cultures of sharing resist monetization? As much as a collaboration challenges the way we relate to each other i’s success also depends upon it. Or as Claude Lévi -Strauss puts it:

‘In order to progress, people have to work together; and in the course of their collaboration, they gradually become aware of an identification in their relationships whose initial diversity was precisely what made their collaboration fruitful and necessary.' ⁸

What are those relationships today, what are the differences that hinder them? Where is all this communality and where is the space for diversity in them? The following listed situations exemplify what is meant by dominant discourses and how this oppress individuals and marginalized groups.

Adeola Enigbokan reflects on the fear of difference and the fear of the stranger: she considers what it means to be a stranger (in the Netherlands) and how this consequently renders her an outsider. For her, a woman of color, to become 'appropriate' and to integrate to Dutch culture ( to become part of the 'us') and i’s spaces such as the cafe mentioned in 'A Note on Gezelligheid' she has to succumb a stereotyped, narrow role. ⁹

FKA Twigs explanation on her last production reveal obstacles and issues around authorship and western though as a culture that excludes differences and singles out certain people. Her album Magdalene deals with her experience as woman defined and diminished by patriarchy. ¹⁰ FKA Twigs sees this figure (Magdalene) as a male projection, and believes it is the moment when the patriarchy took control of the way women are told. It seems absurd to define a woman by the male figures that side her, and so the well known name of Nicolas Jaar that co sign tracks on the album (along with other well known artists) does not figure on the record, because there is no writing. It was Nicolas Jaar that suggested it to Twigs:

‘He told me that putting his name on it wouldn't stress all my work, especially as a woman and producer. When he told that, I started crying. ...We live in an age obsessed ‘He told me that putting his name on it wouldn't stress all my work, especially as a woman and producer. When he told that, I started crying. …We live in an age obsessed with superheroes, we are full of huge franchises that make fantastic films but in this picture strength and vulnerability never coexist.' ¹¹

In this case openly 'declaring' the collaboration would have possibly belittled her part in the endeavor. As the public does not seem to be ready to accept a woman succeeding in a industry run by man. ¹² This years Turner Prize winners wanted to set a strong message by hijacking and exposing the dynamics this culture of winning (and exclusion). ¹³ For the first time since it’s establishment in 1984, the award goes to all four final nominees after they wrote a joint letter to the committee. Oscar Murillo, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock and Tai Shani wanted to set a sign for 'commonality, multiplicity and solidarity' by turning themselves into a collective in a time of political division in Britain and conflict in much of the world. Social and participatory practice is common to all of the four artists that believe that if taken together such practices discord with a competitive setting that classifies and individualizes

‘Placing in contention the issues in our work would undermine our individual artistic efforts to show a world entangled. The issues we each deal with are as inseparable as climate chaos is from capitalism.' ¹⁴

The second two affairs testimony how people try to criticize and alter a structure and institution from within in and do not conform to its standards and requirements but had to make it to a certain position to be actually heard. Collectives can also be a method for underrepresented groups to counter the status quo from outside: the Black Panther Party (initially 'Black Panther Party for Self-defense’) radically aimed for political and economic power (and to be granted the same rights as white citizens) for African Americans through social force.¹⁵

The diverse forms and goals of collaborations allow for taking big leaps in exploring the matter: my entry point into the topic was a particularly fruitful and exciting exchange with my friend and classmate Seojeong Youn. With each shared project I got hyped in the potential of mixing, exchanging, matching, translating and colliding thoughts. Now there are many reasons why I prefer a joint effort above a single one, but the almost inexistent number of graduation projects by teams in our department shows another mindset. What are the reasons against it? Is it the uncertainty of succeeding? Engaging in a collaboration can be an adventure, even more if it is cross-disciplinary, and the pressure for a result is often heavier than the actual workload. Maybe students shy away from it to eliminate the possibility of someone fucking up their final project. Maybe some see their own graduation as a last possibility to do a project without restrictions and compromises: thinking of the long future of inevitable collaborations with clients that the profession will bring about anyways. Proving one's uniqueness in the chosen topic. When did the idea of the artist as genius come up? Or the star-architect, or the author designer? Large artworks are rarely executed single handedly and yet the idealized and romanticized figure of the gifted artist was credited for it. Can collaboration become a safe space in order to focus on the work itself instead of the outcome or the product?

---

1. Dede, Chris. (2009). Comparing Frameworks for 21st Century Skills. Harvard Graduate School of Education: Cambridge. Page 7↩

2. True spiritual pregnancy for Plato is the development of wisdom in the soul, interpreted from the male point of view as the swelling of desire for intercourse with knowledge itself, that is, philosophia. Plato. (2008). Symposium. The Project Gutenberg [EBook #1600 ], translated by Benjamin Jowett. Page 136↩

3. According to French sociologist Emile Durkheim, a community (or society) occasionally would gather and simultaneously communicate the same thought and participate in the same action. He coined the term to indicate how communal gatherings intensify, electrify and enlarge religious experience. Bringing people together in close physical proximity ‘generates a kind of electricity that quickly transports them to an extraordinary degree of exaltation’. Think of concerts, comic con or festivals. Durkheim, Emile. (1995). Elementary Forms of Religious Life. The free press: New York. Page 266↩

4. 'Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.' Aristotele. Politics. Book 1. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.↩

5. Cuboniks, Laboria. (2015). Xenofeminism: A Politics for Alienation. www.laboriacuboniks.net↩

6. Petrešin-Bachelez, Nataša. (October 2017). For Slow Institutions. E-flux journal #85.↩

7. Frohofer, Fred. (February 22, 2017). Whoever loves nature lives in the city: Commoning practices in the Antropocene. Eurozine

8. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. (1973). Anthropologie structurale deux. Plon: Paris. Page 420. Cited in Wright, Stephen. (2004). The delicate essence of artistic collaboration. Third Text.

9. Dr. Adeola Enigbokan is an environmental psychologist. She researches architectures of trust, connection and belonging in cities around the world. Enigbokan, Adeola. (Date unknown). A Note on Gezelligheid. Architecture of Appropriation by Het Nieuwe Instituut Rottedam.

10. The biblical figure of Magdalene, the woman that cured, listens and (maybe loved Jesus) has been removed and devalued by the Church and western history to one of a mere repented prostitute. Carrol, James. (2006). Who was Mary Magdalene?. Smithsonian Magazine.

11. Alovisi, Elia. (2019). FKA Twigs si è incazzata col patriarcato, e il risultato è ‘MAGDALENE’. Vice Magazine Italy.

12. Women make up 21.7 percent of artists, 12.3 percent of songwriters and 2.1 percent of producers of the 700 songs on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart between 2012 and 2017. Out of 841 producers 4 were women of color. Smith, Stacy. Choueiti, Pieper , Katherine. (2018). Inclusion in the Recording Studio? Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Artists, Songwriters & Producers across 600 Popular Songs from 2012-2017. Cited by Kelley, Caitlin. (16 Februar, 2019). The Music Industry Still Has A Long Way To Go For Gender Equality. Forbes.

13. The Turner prize, (named after the British painter J. M. W. Turner), is a yearly prize for a British visual artist (including all medias). Organized by the Tate gallery, it is United Kingdoms most publicized prize. Author unknown. Information retrieved on December 14, 2019 from www.tate.org.uk/art/turner-prize

14. Authour Unknown. (3 December, 2019). Turner Prize: The moment all four nominees win prestigious award. BBC news.

15. Documetary inquiring into racial inequality in the United States focusing on slavery and incarceration . DuVernay, Ava., Spencer, Averick., Barish, Howard. (2016). 13th. [Motion picture]. USA: Kandoo Films, Forward Movement.

Teamwork, Collaboration, Cooperation and Coordination often are used interchangeably but a distinction is made when used within todays workplace context. In this setting it is important to be aware of this nuance, mainly to clarify the hierarchy of everyone involved, since wrong expectations can cause tensions between the involved parties and eventually affect the final outcome. ¹⁶ Teamwork as defined by wikipedia is 'the collective effort of a group towards a common goal or to compete a task in the most efficient way.' ¹⁷ Collaboration means working together to create something new in support of a shared vision, the key points are that it is not through individual effort, something new is created, the common vision is the glue, and also, contrary to teamwork where everyone performs an individual task and team members don't necessarily need to get along with each other, in a collaboration decisions are taken collectively and the managerial hierarchy tends to be flat: everyone is equal.

We could settle with this definition, but it is a narrow vision on collaboration, one reduced to office settings and characteristic to our economic systems. At a closer look things are more intricate than this. Forms of collaboration are so variegated from size, composition and aim that the conceptualization around this topic seems endless. People (and some other forms of life) all want and have to collaborate. Many endeavors became to complex to be managed by one single person, and with the strive for growth, innovation and inclusiveness we reach out for skills and viewpoints that we lack. Collaborating allows to consider one idea from multiple sides and this inclusion enriches the result, and so, even if finally I have typed and compiled this very text myself, I rely on other peoples thoughts for it. Let me borrow the following sentence from David Bohm:

‘The collective thought is more powerful than the individual thought. In fact, the individual thought is mostly the result of collective thought and of interaction with other people. The language is entirely collective, and most of the thoughts in it are. Everybody does his own thing to those thoughts, he makes a contribution. But very few change them very much.' ¹⁸

Alicia P. Melis researches how human ability to collaborate and share resources might impacted 'the success of our specie’. Psychological process behind our cooperative behavior is studied though children and primates. For mutually beneficial collaboration, individuals need cognitive mechanisms to coordinate actions with others and mechanisms to distribute the acquired resources in a way that convinces partners to continue collaborating. Whilst Chimpanzees seem to do the first, but do not share as much the resources of joint labor. So whilst our ability as humans to communicate and collaborate is beyond that of animals, we do not employ them as easily and naturally as it might seem from Aristoteles thought. ¹⁹

There are as many definitions and distinctions for collaborations, as there are frameworks within each, and this might be the reason why it quickly becomes exhausting to read theories about it. A collaboration is defined as a situation, so theories on it are the attempt to abstract it, and consider all the circumstances that make it up. This gives a multitude of possible collaborations and shows i’s idiosyncratic nature. Everything in a collaboration seems delicate, hard to grasp and still so impactful. ²⁰

In 'Introducing the theory of collaborative advantage’ the writers point out how circumstances as identity, culture, power and working processes represent potential tensions ina group and often cross relate; demonstrating the complexity of this situations. An example on how quickly the topic becomes slippery and how numerous the obstacles of success are arises when analyzing the basic definition 'Collaboration is the situation where two or more work together to create or achieve the same thin' judging by this the common aim seems a core reason for people to join forces and clearly defining, agreeing or sharing those aims is essential to make any joint progress for partners. ²¹ The belief of coinciding goals is paradoxical in itself when one prevailing 'strategy’ for achieving advantage is collaborating with a people with complementary skills. This differences in experiences, expertise and resources also bring differences in visions and values and so it is not unlikely that the final aim differs. Agreeing that this is logic, or agreeing that we disagree, I still get frustrated (or maybe disillusioned?) When the other person seems less involved. ²² How can we harvest from this differences?

Michel Serres was a philosopher know for incorporating numerous perspectives in his theories, an approach opposed to the critique or approval of ideas. Conversation plays an important role in his work as he believes that friendship and collaboration can invent new forms:

‘In philosophy as in life, and in life as in the sciences, I personally prefer invention accompanied by the danger of error, rather than rigorous verification paralleled by the risk of immobility.' ²³

‘…as long as the dialogue is not a sort of fight to the death between two set opinions. Each participant in the conversation must be free and open.' ²⁴

When working with someone I usually keep a constant dialogue, this then facilitates decision making: everyone has to bee clear about what they bring to the table. Through vocalizing ideas get automatically sorted and tested by the interlocutor. Interesting thoughts get picked up and evolve quickly, less relevant ones get discharged, 'darling' killed if not valid. A constant reference of mine is Grapus, a graphic design collective that formed during the student revolt of 1968 in Paris and worked collectively for twenty years. Everything leaving the studio (mainly posters for cultural institutions) was signed collectively (Grapus). It’s members (at times around 20 people) all belonged to communist parties, and all their work was fueled and dedicated to this ideology: for them, culture had to be brought to politics and politics to culture. They practiced creative conflict:

‘We are in conflict with the clients, but there is also conflict between us. Everyone can talk about and work on everyone else’s project.' ²⁵

Eventually the group decided to split because they did not want to compromise their ideals among them.

---

16. Campell, Andrew. (2011). Collaboration Is Not The Same Thing As Teamwork. Business insider

17. Teamwork as defined on www.wikipedia.com

18. Bhom, David. (2004). On Dialogue. Routledge: Abingdon. Page 33

19. We engage in acts of cooperation primarily toward our inner circles, but do so at the expense of people outside of those circles. In support of this phenomenon, the hormone oxytocin, long considered the social hormone and playing a big role in formation of social bonds, has been shown to facilitate affiliation toward one's ingroup, but can increase aggression and defense toward one's outgroup Melis P, Alicia (September 2013).The evolutionary roots of human collaboration: coordination and sharing of resources. Abstract. www.researchgate.net

20. Stephen Wright reflects on the delicacy of artistic collaboration and the right conditions under which they can flourish referring to Marcel Mauss and the concept of caritas: “… of that necessary “friendship”, of that “community”, which are the delicate essence of the city.’ Mauss, Marcel. (1997). Écrits politiques, cited in Wright, Stephen. (2004). The delicate essence of artistic collaboration. Third Text.

21. Cambridge Dictionary

22. Huxham, Chris. (2003). Theorizing Collaborative Practice. Public Management Review Vol. 5 Issue 3, Taylor & Francis Ltd: Leiden. Page 5.

23. Serres, Michel cited by Matrinez, Chus. (2014). The Octopus in Love. E-flux journal #55

24. Serres, Michel., Obrist, Hans Ullrich. (2014). Michel Serres. [interview]. 032c



25.Favier, Léo. (2014). What, you don’t know Grapus? Spector Books: Leipzig. Page 160, 197.

'And you, what do you do in life?' The question that quickly arises in any small talk, that makes me stammer or recite my script. I try to illustrate my days, hoping to earn approval because we are what we do. There is also the side job, 'I’m reeeally busy you know', but i’s clear that it is a pure money-job, no further explanation, no shame, no pain… At least one aim we all share. With the other job? That's were we all seek for personal, individual fulfillment. And if you don't make it, you're the one to blame.

Previously in the text I speculate why students tend not to collaborate for graduation projects, suspecting that we all want to claim ideas and success as ours and to consolidate ourselves as capable and independent (and I am projecting my own thoughts here). Turns out our curriculum at KABK, as the majority of education models, makes use of a grading system, and this would be really hard to apply in at the case of two people collaborating for a graduation project. So even if the atmosphere between us students is collegian and with considerably little competition we can't ignore that we are all preparing for a future in an economy were we have to be, and mainly seem, better than others. Our education is modeled to prepare the individual and takes this for granted if I read though the regulations of the Academy. ²⁶ This legal setting is not made up from the institutional side but from law makers (for example the ministry of education) and if you are in the system you have to adapt to it’s rules. All this said whilst I am going back and forth between previously written parts of my Thesis and the progress of my classmates with emotional states ranging from slight to severe panic to reassurance or getting into a severely odd of being upset while seeing that in the previous year a student of the photography department graduated with the same topic. Mainly challenged to perform by expectations — whether they are mine or the expectations of the teachers which at this point seems hard to distinguish — I consider what it would mean to fail a project? And, why I barely allow myself to even contemplate this thought and it appears that we want to make it on our own. If collaboration indicates a situation, what are the circumstances it takes place in? How does our culture shape collaborations? And which kind of conditions and context would allow for collaboration to come to full fruition?

If 'Individuals are responsible for themselves and have the right to become whatever kind of person they choose to be' is a distinctively twentieth-century belief, at least in western cultures. ²⁷ In her text Vera John Steiner tries to understand the psychological nature of collaborations, focusing specifically at small creative teams and on how their practices challenge mainstream theories focused on the individual. She introduces Jean Piaget and to explain how he contributed to sculpt the idea that — in simple words —  it is solely up to us to achieve our goals. His work on child development had a big weight on the idea that the individual self is the highest and most valuable element and this direction of thought was gladly welcome by western capitalist countries. According to Piaget, the role that others play in someones effort of constructing instruments for knowing and understanding the world is of support, each person 'arrives at the pinnacle of mind's power under one's own command'. ²⁸ Friedrich Hayek (considered as the father of neoliberalism), shares similar ideas, although of more entrepreneurial nature, he defines liberty as freedom of the individual to pursue their economic interests. ²⁹ I am taking a closer look at the ideology of neoliberalism to understand what is meant by 'Entrepreneur of the Self'. ³⁰ In his course 'Birth of Biopolitics' Michel Foucault presents the genealogy of liberalism and neoliberalism and how it spread to domains that were thought to be noneconomic, in particular to human beings:

‘The entrepreneur of the self’as the neoliberal subject (individual) is centered on itself, outside from the social field. It is the subject that acts upon itself to conform to the information of the market. The neoliberal subject is in constant adaptation and competition, proper to the power relations of neoliberal society, and disconnected from the social effects of his actions.’ ³¹

In this subject I recognize the designer to busy to achieve success (or making a living) to question approaches and commissions. The subject of the narcissistic designer is addressed by Erik Carter in his reflection on how todays majority of graphic design seems more concerned with personality than with content. He points out that designers feel that 'they made it' when invited to give speeches on conventions. What actually happens is that they spend more time talking at events and less actually producing. Moreover this kind of event promotes people that are already established feeding the cult of personality.³² Füsun Türetken explained me how she sabotages this kind of dynamics by bringing along less known artists when invited for a talk, enabling them to access this spaces.³³

It is characteristic of the neoliberal subject that emotional relations and choices (for instance education and pleasure) are calculated as business investments. Each singular subject represents himself ideally as an entrepreneur (ultimately as a business brand). Competition generalizes to all aspects of reality. An example of how corporate identity is dominant in neoliberal market societies is the admiration of personalities like Bill Gates, worlds youngest self-made billionaire. Mark Zuckerberg's fairytale, the student that changed the Internet from his dorm, has been turned into a film. ³⁴ The biography, rich in drama and denied by some of the portrayed characters, shows how a young man by working non-stop, dropping out of school for his visions, betraying a close friend and getting sued for propriety theft becomes one of the most influential (and rich) figures of our times: the epitome of the radian hero?
 ³⁵ Ayn Rand promoted her philosophy of objectivism through her novels 'The FountainHead' and 'Atlas Shrugged'. Described by her as:

‘…the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute’. ³⁶

In 'All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace' Adam Curtis explains how figures such as Howard Roark, the individualistic architect in Fountainhead that goes against the (architectural) establishment influenced ideologies of Silicon Valley. ³⁷ Rand states that individualism is superior to collectivism and altruism. How could a person that 'respects the ability to do the right thing' ever be wrong? ³⁸ In her logic, the subject is responsible for their own pursuit of happiness, which in return means that the state has no responsibility towards the citizen either, which as one can see nowadays and in regard of the credit crunch in 2008 can result in catastrophic scenarios.

The so called 'American Dream' deriving from this freedom influences pop culture and entertainment and this in return strengthens the dream, bringing people like J.Lo to pretend (or at least write) that they came from poor backgrounds …Used to have a little, now I have a lot…' Making their success even more glorious. ³⁹ The original dream was luring for adults ready to commit themselves and take up some risk to secure the future of their next generation, the option promoted lately is one more appealing to a never growing teenager. Martha Bayles points out that the 'new' proposed dream is one for single, unattached young people seeking personal freedom, perfectly summed up in the sitcom of Friends. ⁴⁰ As by the creators, it is about:

‘sex, love, relationships, careers… a time in your life when everything is possible…’  ⁴¹

Neoliberalism and individualism are intertwined in the sense that the first is a byproduct of the second, but also seems to enhance it as it spreads to all areas of our lives. Individualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only. On the other hand we find collectivism: the term stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong cohesive in-groups (social category or group with which you identify strongly), which throughout peoples lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. This distinction comes from a Dutch organizational sociologist named Geert Hofstede. Back in the 1970s, Hofstede did an extensive research for IBM of several hundred thousand of the company's workers in 70 countries, interviewing and creating surveys to understand behavior on the workplace. Hofstede created a 'model of national culture’ and distinguishes four factors that shaped business practices differently in IBM offices around the globe, the most famous of which became the spectrum between individualistic cultures, which emphasize a persons interpersonal, social, and civic connections. In countries with high individualism employees rather believe in individual decision making, training is most effective when not focused on group level and the employer/employee relationship is based on the market. ⁴²

My point here is trying to outline what conditions, from educational to cultural, are shaping our perceptions and approaches to collaboration. The aspect of individualism of thinking critically and independently is needed also for a fruitful collaboration, but what does it mean for our practice if we are entrepreneurs of ourself? being for ourselves our capital, being ourselves our own producer, being for ourself the source of our earnings? Will it make it less likely for us to engage with other parties?  ⁴³ Under this light, the first precondition for a collaboration, the common aim, is nurtured by self-interest, decision making whether to take on shared working is based upon expectations about the future outcome. I would for instance evaluate previous behaviors and projects of this person to determine if together we would achieve success. In the circumstance of my personal graduation project I have high expectations for the outcome. This pressure to perform (that in this culture I place upon myself) makes it unlikely that I would take big risks. ⁴⁴ I think I am more concerned with passing the year and getting my degree than in freely exploring a subject without a vision of what my final product will be. This is how success is measured, this is how I can fit in. If I fail the blame is on me, not the institution. The neoliberal system of domination is not one of repression as Byung-Chul says, but one of seduction and desire. I am not oppressed worker, I am free to pursue my dreams and for that I have to compete against me and everyone else. ⁴⁵ There is little room left for solidarity and communal spirit.

‘We share and interact more than ever, but not for free:‘The ideology of ‘community’ or a ‘collaborative common’ leads to the total capitalization of existence. It makes it impossible to be friendly without a purpose. In a society of continuous, mutual feedback, friendship, too, becomes commercialized. People are friendly to get better ratings.' ⁴⁶

One core ingredient needed for collaborating in mutual trust and care. In 'Theorizing Collaborative Practice’ the author argues that partners need to trust each other enough for taking the risk to initiate the collaboration. The bigger the risk, then bigger the trust needed. Trust is built whit time and smaller tasks until the team is ready for a bigger challenge. ⁴⁷ When can I build such relations of trust if failing is never an option?

---

26. Schoenmakers, Marieke. (2019). Education and Examination Regulations, Bachelor autonomous Fine arts & bachelor design KABK 2019-2020

27. John Steiner, Vera . (2000). Creative Collaboration. Oxford University Press: New York. Pages 4-6,

28. Piaget, Jean. (1936). Theory of cognitive development cited in John Steiner, Vera . (2000). Creative Collaboration. Oxford University Press: New York. Pages 171-175,

29. Hayek, Friedrich. (1948). Individualism and Economic Order. Cited by Spencer, Douglas. (2017). Architecture after California. E-flux architecture.

30. Dilts, Andrew. (2011). From ‘Entrepreneur of the Self’ to ‘Care of the Self’: Neo-liberal Governmentality and Foucault’s Ethics, Foucault Studies, No. 12. Loyola Marymount University. Pages 130-146.

31. Foucault, Michel. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics; Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-79. translated by Graham Burchell. Palgrave Macmillan: New York.

32. Carter finds three core problems in the graphic design industry (and acting upon it from outside too) that need to be understood in order to take a better future direction for the field. He introduces the aspects as follows. “graphic design’s failure to examine its societal implications, the profession’s obsession with personality and itself, and the lack of inclusion in design’s history and in the current discipline.”Carter, Erik. (2018).Do You Want Typography or Do You Want The Truth? Walker art Magazine.

33. Türetken, Füsun. (2019). [thesis mentor conversation]. KABK: Den Haag.

34. Fincher, David. (2010). The Social Network. Sony Pictures Releasing

35. The 'randian hero' is a figure in Ayn Rand’s fiction novels.

36. Rand, Ayn. (1957). Atlas Shrugged. Penguin Group: New York. (appendix) Page 891.

37. Curtis, Adam. (2011). Love and Power. All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. BBC.

38. Snider, Tom [reporter ]. Rand, Ayn. (1979). Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. [tv show] The Tomorrow Show. (00:00:25).

39. Lopez, Jennifer. (2002). Jenny from the Block. (00:00:58).

40. Baylers, Martha. (2015). How the World Perceives the New American Dream. The Atlantic.

41. Laurer, Matt. (2004). ‘Friends’ creators share show’s beginnings. nbcnews.

42. Hofstede, Geert. www.geerthofstede.com

43. Foucault, Michel. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics; Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-79. Translated by Graham Burchell. Palgrave Macmillan: New York. Page 252

44. Han, Byung-Chul, Butler, Erik. (2015). The Burnout Society. Stanford Briefs: Stanford.

45. Wright, Joe. (2016). Nosedive. Black Mirror, Season 3 Episode 1. Endemol Shine UK

46. Han, Byung-Chul. (2015). Why Revolution Is No Longer Possible. opendemocracy.org

47. Huxham, Chris. (2003). Theorizing Collaborative Practice. Public Management Review Vol. 5 Issue 3, Taylor & Francis Ltd: Leiden.

Diversifying Collaborations

In the previous chapter I try to understand what the nature of collaboration is in our current settings and how those compromise it. Here I want to introduce different situations and forms of collaboration and consider their aims or impacts, along I discovered more requirements for a functioning collaboration. Inspiration for alternative ways of organizing can be found with bees and ants that distinguish themselves for their sociality. Eusociality, the highest level of sociality a species can reach, is characterized by the division of labor into reproductive and non reproductive groups, collective brood care and the multitude of generations of adults within a colony. In some cases this leads to the loss of one ability, for instance with certain bees were queens are sole reproducers (in collaboration with reproductive males…). ⁴⁸

Eusociality presented a paradox: On the 'Origin of Species' Darwin referred to the existence of sterile castes as the 'one special difficulty, which at first appeared to me insuperable, actually fatal to my theory’. ⁴⁹ How could individuals incapable of reproducing pass on this sort of gene? He believed that the answer was to be found in the close family relationships which then W.D.Hamilton brought forward in 1964 with the inclusive fitness theory. It says that organisms can gain fitness (meaning reproductive success) not just through increasing their own reproductive output, but also by increasing the one of other individuals that share their genes, especially their close relatives. ⁵⁰ What fascinates me is that this kind of altruism also secures a species.

There are many organizations that look at the powerful collaboration of bees: The biomimicry institute was established in 2006 'to share nature's design lessons with the people who design and make our world’, projects of this sort believe that nature inspired solutions will activate a new way of designing that is more careful of our resources and environment. ⁵¹ Another project that researches the unique trait was initiated by management consultant David Zinger, philosopher and beekeeper Phil Veldhuis and artist Aganetha Dyck, their findings and fascinations are collected in Waggle a handbook to improve work, human organizations and engagement. What we learn here form bees is still useful for (management) economics: how to coordinate a group to maximize its productivity; or 'how to get more from your employees than what somethings is referred to as the sum of their part'. ^{52 53} But I reckon that this sort of techniques can generally be applied during teamwork, also among us students and open up ideas about otherness. In chapters with cringy titles (and explanatory pictures) like Go Girl and There is no 'I' in bee Zinger looks at how most work in a beehive is done by females, suggesting that being more female in the way we collaborate can bring benefits. Whether women are more incline to collaborate or not is a whole other question, what I want to take from here is the importance of hearing out peoples view on things.

Still within the animal realm the octopus draws curiosity for being the only living creature having a decentralized brain. It is literally distributed across the eight arms, making them sort of thinking. The arms have autonomy and yet are still part of the body: suggesting a system where power and control are not located in one place how we are used to. The invertebrate surprises more for being capable of remembering patterns, solving spacial problems and opening jars. Octopuses are genetically very distant from us and display a sophisticated and curios intelligence. ⁵⁴ How come animals end up in this text? Investigations of the sort manifest an urge in detecting different ways of relating to each other. One that is inclusive, where little bits still are part of the whole but were this unity does not erase the single.

Psych et Po, a feminist current that began in France around 1968, was aiming at a collective force that wouldn't be flattened by individualism. They developed a method to practice politics that was based on differences and turned them into it’s the very strength and attempted to rework fundamental structures of western society, language and political models. To become 'one' in our culture is to reduce the female sex to the male. Psych et Po and the feminists practices that it influenced affirm sexual difference. If there are at least two types of being and not one (universal) the way for further ways of being is opened. From this many 'practices of relations' derive, a way of doing collective politics and being together that does not demand for consensus and that. ⁵⁵

As put down earlier, people at times unite from the need of becoming visible in the social fabric. When joining forces succeeds it can be a method to escape ruling power structures by creating new environments for interactions. In history oppressed groups gathered to form movements and challenge or revolt against imposed codes. When social movements are formed and begin to take action it is called mobilization, this term rightly brings warfare to my mind, since it describes the gathering of forces to go against opposing groups, rules, institutions… Alberto Melucci describes some of the factors that are needed for mobilization to occur: 'a collective identity, the identification of an adversary, the definition of a purpose, an object at stake in the conflict.' He further stresses that it is not the poorest and most marginalized people that gather, but groups that already have experienced this sort of participation. Accordingly, women's movement is a sort of offspring from civil right ant peace movements of the 60’s. These women were already part of this movements in a more subordinate role, but this experience nourished consciousness and thought capacity for action and organization. ⁵⁶ If people initiating the mobilizing process do it on the basis of previous experiences of alliance then it is comparable with a skill that has to be learned through personal involvement. Were do I learn how to gather and unite (for whatever reason seems relevant) on a daily basis?

Ways Of Learning

‘A school is just a building with a school in it. It doesn't even have to be a building in the strictest sense. Take some of the school part out and it might work even better.’  ⁵⁷

Doris Stauffer, Swiss artist, educator and feminist, saw the necessity to combine the political with education. In 1969 she began teaching teamwork at the Zürich School of Applied Arts in the Farbe und Form (color and form) class. Believing that art belongs on the street, she and her pupils made banners and giant papier mâché dolls for FBB actions and moved the lessons into public space. ⁵⁸ Thus, she not only expanded the teaching methods, but also the common ideas of art education. She wanted to provoke, challenge, encourage critical thinking, and also question her position as a teacher. Teamwork was an attempt at collectivization, as a counter movement to individualistic creation. The school management did not approve of their teaching methods at all, the class was dissolved in 1970. Doris, her husband Serge Stauffer and their colleagues were fired, which led to protests among the students. The Stauffers left the School of Applied Arts and founded their own art school in 1971 together with Bendicht Fivian, Peter W. Gygax, Peter Jenny and Hansjörg Mattmüller: the F+F, Schule für experimentelle Gestaltung). It is at F+F that, at the end of the seventies, Doris Stauffer offered 'Hexenkurse’, (witch courses), which were only open to women. Women should exchange ideas, share their experiences, get to know their own skills and try them out in a protected setting:

‘You are a witch when you are female, untamed, angry, happy and immortal.’ ⁵⁹

The experience that her own artworks have been labeled as 'Women's art' may have contributed to her coming up with this courses: it was about finding own opinions aesthetics and art, regardless of the art world dominated by men.

Similarly idealistic and significant for many educational methods was the Black Mountain College,the experimental school active from 1933 to 1957. The college took inspiration from the Bauhaus model (many of the tutors were previously involved there) and the theories of education of John Dewey, so the belief in learning by doing and the Art as experience (opposed to the final product). ⁶⁰ The curriculum emphasized on artistic education and interdisciplinary and merged hands on projects, communal life and experimental practices to educate the students as a person and a citizen. One of it’s most important innovations so to say, that then influenced the Neo avant-garde movements, was it’s radical orientation towards collective and practical tasks (primarily everyday physical tasks to support the life on campus). The college was established to loosen conventional models between the students of a faculty and it's administration; which usually served to specialize roles and strengthen hierarchies. The communal life did not follow a set structure, students had to question and co create societal living on campus in dialogue with each other. Roles such as student and teacher were examined as they unfolded, now understood as a performative acts, allowing the shaping of this roles.

The forms of collaboration on campus often unfolded as experiments, it involved risk taking and was very energy consuming for participants. It was a process of trial and error, negotiation and changeover, and several disciplines could interplay. The possibility for failure was vital and empowering, because it shifted the focus from finalized art to the process, it’s energy and possibilities . The experiments were revealing what Deleuze called 'The Cleavage of Casualty', a sort of elaboration on action and reaction, a laboratory for experiences to figure out the incomplete the ephemeral and the eventuality in situations. The idea that one should approach art without an expectation of its end is very present in Jhon Cages work that had a big influence on the Fluxus movement of the 60ies and 70ties. ⁶¹

The 2018 edition of the Design Biennale in Istanbul had the title 'School of Schools' wanted to ask if can design and design education can provide the critical ideas and strategies needed to face future challenges’ (from information overload to resource scarcity). ⁶² Also Isabelle Stenger urges that education needs to be rethought, a pretty legitimate plea, considering that our generation will have to solve it all… ⁶³ Similarly BAK, Basis voor actuele kunst (Utrecht) engages in projects (and seminars) that questions public institution (with the aim to improve it), wondering how it’s borders can be kept flexible, critical and non institutionalized by falling in the 'best practice' model. ⁶⁴

---

48. Rafferty, P. Jhon. Eusocial species. www.britannica.com

49. Darwin, Charles. (1860). On the Origin of Species. Second British edition. Page 236

50. Hamilton, W. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour I. Journal of Theoretical Biology. Cited by Rogers, Kara. (2010). www.britannica.com

51. Biomimicry Institute Website, Our Organization.

52. Zinger makes this link by mentioning a study by Alice Eagly that finds that female managers are more collaborative and democratic than male managers. Women attend more to the individuals they work with, by mentoring them and taking their particular situations into account. Zinger, David. (2013).Waggle: 39 Ways to Improve Human Organizations, Work, and Engagement. [online publication].

53. John-Steiner, Vera. Creative Collaboration. Oxford University Press: New York. Page 35.

54. Matrinez, Chus. (2014). The Octopus in Love. E-flux journal #55

55. Martinis Roe, Alex. (2018). To become two: propositions for feminist collective practice. Archive Books in partnership with Casco — Office for Art, Design and Theory & If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your Revolution: Utrecht. Pages 41, 61, 147

56. Melucci, Alberto. (1996.) Challenging codes, Collective action in the information age. Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge: Cambridge. Pages 295-296, 298.

57. Elliman, Paul. (2006.) A School is a Building with a School in it. Design Open Data.

58. The women's liberation movement (Frauenbefreiungsbewegung), abbreviated FBB, was an organization in Switzerland in the late 1960s and arose from the Swiss women's movement on the one hand and from the student revolts on the other. FBB made its first public appearance in 1969 at a demonstration in Zurich and was the beginning of organized feminism in Switzerland. Schenkel, Lena. (2019). 50 Jahre nach Gründung der Frauenbefreiungsbewegung FBB: Was von Zürichs revolutionären Feministinnen geblieben ist. Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

59. Koller, Simone; Züst, Mara . (2015). Doris Stauffer. Eine Monografie. Scheidegger & Spiess: Zürich. Pages 181-184.

60. Dewey, John. (1936). Art as experience. Cited in Lehmann, Annette Jael, Kittel, Verena, and Werner, Anna-Lena. (2016). Black Mountain Research. Kerber Culture: Bielefeld. Pages 3-5.

61. Lehmann, Annette Jael, Kittel, Verena, and Werner, Anna-Lena. (2016) Black Mountain Research. Kerber Culture: Bielefeld. Pages 3-5.

62. www.aschoolofschools.iksv.org/en/#section-new-about-detaillink

63. Stengers, Isabelle. (2011). Another Science is Possible!: A Plea for Slow Science. (lecture, Faculty of Philosophy and Literature, Université libre de Bruxelles: Bruxelles. Cited in Petrešin-Bachelez, Nataša. (October 2017). For Slow Institutions. E-flux journal #85.

64. www.bakonline.org/program-item/instituting-otherwise/

Lichens don not need much: they can grow under extreme conditions and survive were it would not be possible for one of the symbiotic members alone. They are often among the first organisms to 'colonize' new ground: they can grow on bare rock and even break it down with acids creating soil for plants. The algae helps the fungus and the fungus supports the algae, together the make new ground.

My curiosity for collaborations sprang from personal experiences. Work process and outcome felt different: freed from expectations and self promotion. Strangely in control and yet very fluid and undefined — an open process of exploration and learning. Across the entire text the focus was mainly on western culture and how it shapes collaborations. Many obstacles were hidden behind this ideology, so deep it is infiltrated in our relationships, thoughts and institutions. I found out that collaborations have the potential to reveal this structures and eventually also to counter them. With this thesis I learned how collaborations can be a safe space for exploration and a way to restructure and rethink production also beyond graphic design. Educational models like those of Black Mountain College and F+F have intended to push this boundaries from within by questioning their own role in education. They were spaces for experimentation on production, the way we learn and connect with each other. There is a necessity for connecting and organizing differently with people (and we might just get inspired by bees and squids). There also is a need for spaces that allow and facilitate us in learning this and I want education to have this function for me. Collaborations ideally maintain things dynamic and therefore bring along the necessary flexibility to write inclusive solutions. The feminist politics developed by Psych et Po (and other collectives after them) is based on the theory of sexual difference, at it’s core lies the importance of doing things together and engaging with each other and building on differences. This ideas of explicit inclusion of the other also resonate with Xenofeminism, its manifesto combines alters and resurrects ideas from other fields and movements (and invests us to do so as well) such as cyberfeminism. This politics of difference need to be adopted and transferred in other contexts for creating connections and solidarity among single people, shaping our relations and fostering a culture of support.