The Coop Method

From Institute of Intermedia

The COOP Method.

We come to one place, presumably an interested gallery or cultural space, with each participant. The organizers, and 2-3 artists from each partner organization. We don't need ideas in advance, we have to make things there. Together. Every 3 hours we do a round up. Eat, drink, and walk a little outside. Make field notes. The whole setup is less about finishing a great piece of art.

Day one: Discussing ideas, and imagining how to work them out. Make an overview of available skills. What do we need in addition? Find a way of learning together. Make a planning together. Every 3 hours we do a round up. Eat, drink, and walk a little outside. Make field notes. Adjust planning and schedules. Make the documentation and the state of art visible in the space.

Day two: Split in as many groups as we can work out an idea. Start 'making' media art work(s). Never work solo or in pairs. The minimum for a fruitful day is three. Never split off. Make explicit what you are going to do. When you are able to do it let another one do it. And work on something that is too difficult for you. Every 3 hours we do a round up. Eat, drink, and walk a little outside. Make field notes. Adjust planning and schedules. Continue to make the documentation and the state of art visible in the space. Like a slow movie unfolding around you. Like the cave paintings coming alive.

Day three: Try to finish as far as you can get with the piece(s) you are working on. Eat, drink, and walk a little outside. Make field notes. Adjust planning and schedules. Round up and make a planning how to proceed in the next workshop, and what is going to happen in between. Finish the documentation. Leave it behind in the space, after filming it. Put it online and comment on it. Next workshop will start with viewing this movie, and discussing it.

To break habits on day three: Start walking a little outside, until you find the place where you'll stop thinking about all the projects, stay there till you feel it's the right time to return...

For the final presentation days, we have all the documentation, all the artefacts. We take the same method and finish whatever we can. Make new things when needed. The result would be some installations, performances (with them), and presentations of the COOP method before a live and interested audience.

COCO-macaw, the COOP-Colossus, or again: A first outline for making massively collective media art work

The COOP method is still valid it seems, but as a small set of guidelines decribing the ideal organization of collaborative work, and at the same time the attitude of a small group of participants within that process. But it is saying nothing about how to make decisions together, or how to move within a general framework with a lot of collaborating artists. Let's say we have 50 participants over 5 days. So here are other mechanisms than for instance in a group of 8 participants at play. Still we don't want to give in to the easiness of running back to the common trend to become in this situation more directive, hierarchical, ex cathedra, and top down. Let's keep the idea up of working together from the basic and essential level, on a general plan that can lead to diverse outcomes, with facilitators of different kinds, with different functions: as the keepers of the collaborative dream, giving practical guidance in the application and development of skills on the spot, inducing at the right time and at the right moment, to the right people some evaluative quality control during the creative process (sequencing and uptake)...

The idea is to use the potential of a large group with a natural diversity, and to create one complex media art work, by creating an optional and selective number of heterogenous modules. These modules can be of an analog or digital nature, within any form or medium, and have an open character. The realization of the work can be seen as dynamically evolving as the days spent on making it are continuing. The presentation of the work will be changing everytime, according to the demands of the environment in which we are bringing the work, or the people setting it up. This should become a final simple activity in itself, since it would be only a matter of arranging the existing modules in a linear and parallel way, along the taste of the composers of the piece. But never ever even in the end let one person decide on this!

What is a module? It is a small audiovisual, analog or coded piece, that is finished and presentable, like a small interactive artwork. There are 2 essential features though that make the difference: 1. There has to be an input for other modules to connect to, and there has to be an output for other modules to connect from. This is as much a content as a technical problem that has to be solved by the makers of the module. Possibly it needs a description to explain the use of it. 2. The module can not be directive, which means that the module cannot impose a unique and predictible input from other inputs, it should be able to accept a variety of data from the other modules of any kind. With other words it cannot be restrictive in nature, as vague as this may sound now. Possibly the module has to provide a mechanism to deal with this. It can also be contained in a 'translation component' positioned immediately after the input. This can be created dynamically while composing the final piece, but that sounds too much as a work around for now...

We divide the group into subgroups with 3-4 artists, who work together on a module during one day. It is important to know that the goal is to finish the module within that day, which severe limitations to the size, complexity, the expected usability and display, the documentation,... Avoid night and over work, and keep it simple but radically generative/interactive. In this subgroup, take all decisions together and unanimously. This relates to the COOP method in the follow way: - sit together and decide on what to make (then have a small break and think about it again, communicate this so best is to think aloud) - sit together and decide on how it works, what it is doing, how to accomodate input and provide output to the world (then have a small break and think about it again, communicate this so best is again to think aloud) - sit together and just make it (then have a big break and go walking for a while, neither eat meat or smoke!) - sit together and adjust the module for appropriate presentation in the space, make a clear documentation together.

Next day we shuffle the subgroups. New modules are being made. And so on. After 3 days take a break and think about what you have done. Take the time to revise the modules of the past. Keep it simple and small and don't neglect the power of the input/output. This is essential for chaining the modules in the end. So be aware!

The idea is to work with as many people as possible together on this piece, also it will cope with people leaving and new participants arriving, and neutralize differences over the several workshops elsewhere. It will automatically keep the piece active from the first 2 finished modules on. In the COOP case, when we have 50 people and 5 days, we can easily make 10 changing groups, that can create 10 modules a day. As such per workshop after 5 days (minus a day of reflection and introspection), we end up with 40 modules. Within the 3 workshops on the 3 different locations that are coming up, we can make easily 120 modules. The finalization of this so called 'massively collective media art work' will consist of choices from all possible arrangements/compositions that are made with these 120 miniworks/modules. Again we stress here the importance of the interconnections between the modules, which could be a weak point if they are not taken care of from the initial design on.

The work is basically a network by itself, and in connection with larger networks, it could be distributed over several physical spaces or copied entirely in several locations, and again be connected. Everytime we go into another setup, we can rearrange the structure of the piece, as a creative activity in itself. As you notice this concept is very open towards content, as each subgroup brings in its particular views and ideas, so the general content, as heterogenic as it is, is being constructed rather than decided on, as we move along with the creation process.

So, this piece, thanks to the massive creative input, and the number of participants, can be seen like an orchestra, but the scores have been cut up and thrown in the air, and distributed line by line to each instrument group. They can make their own internal interpretations on how to play and when, listening to what comes out of the other groups. Or: it can be seen like playing cards, with the same deck making an endless variation on several games to be played simultaneously, each game with only a simple set of rules. Whatever, but let's give it the right space and time. And so a new sense of beauty can emerge.

refs.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaw

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