Group Art Project: LARC

For our group art project my group, LARC, decided to take a backwards approach to the creative process. When we were first discussing different ideas about what we could create by combining our different artistic mediums—filmmaker, visual artist, pianist, and actor—we found that the obvious choice was to make a film. However, we realized that none of us felt that we would be particularly fulfilled in that process. Yes, Lindsey and I would be working within our original mediums, and Chris could definitely do the music, but where would that leave Renata? Plus, we wanted to do something that was not so obvious. We all wanted an outcome from this project that was more than just a final product. We wanted to learn something new about the creative process, and, in turn, learn something new about our own process.

To ensure that no one would have to compromise their own artistic practice, we decided to do a reversal of the creative process. It began with Lindsey meeting with Renata first and picking a piece of art from Renata’s portfolio that she believed had a theme that could easily be communicated and interpreted by the rest of the group (see above photo). She then wrote down some words that she thought accurately expressed the theme and overall mood of Renata’s piece: “tragedy,” “orange,” “dark,” “betrayal,” and “hope.” Lindsey then told me these five words, and without ever seeing the painting, I chose a few Shakespearean pieces that I thought fit these words well. I thought that it would be a stronger choice to perform a Shakespearean monologue in verse rather than a contemporary piece; there is something already extremely artistic and visual about Shakespeare’s writings, and since it is in iambic pentameter, there is an inherent beat and rhythm to his lines that I knew would work beautifully with Chris’ performance on the piano.

When Lindsey and I met, I gave her a few pieces that I had chosen. These included Portia from Julius Caesar, Ophelia from Hamlet, Lady Macbeth from Macbeth, Rosalind from As You Like It, Helena from All’s Well That Ends, and Queen Margaret from Henry VI parts II and III. The theme that struck me the most was betrayal, so after discussing with Lindsey we decided to work on Portia from Julius Caesar. I first performed it for her as I interpreted it through the context of the play; however, Lindsey would then direct me using the words listed above, coercing me into a direction that would better fit the mood of Renata’s painting (which, at this point, I still had not seen).

She then repeated this process with Chris—going through his portfolio of music and picking a piece that fit within the mood and themes that we had been working on. I believe that all of us were rather surprised with the outcome and how effective this approach was. It seemed fitting for Lindsey, as an editor, to take upon this role of communicating between all the artists and then editing down the work to fit a desired image and goal. For me, it gave me definite boundaries, leading me to a desired structure from which I could then work. In the future, I would love to try working purely off a piece of art, this time seeing the piece and then drawing my own themes and moods to employ in my direction. It is always interesting to see how artists interpret the world around them, taking a painting or a piece of music and completely creating their own story and context to create within. It is one of my favorite things about being an artist and interacting with other artists--witnessing and experiencing the sheer imagination and creativity that can explode out of viewing a piece of art, listening to a piece of music, or reading a piece of Shakespeare.