Do you work well with others? Is your creative process helped or hindered by having someone else in on the job? Collaboration can be a great thing – just think of Lennon and McCartney – but it can also lead to frustration and fall-outs. Just think of Lennon and McCartney. It’s an interesting process that a core group of six alumni of the Manchester School of Art is exploring with the help of six invited artists; together they have formed the latest line-up of the fluid Makers Dozen collective and the results of the project are being exhibited at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre under the title Makers Dozen Collaborate.
Artists tend to come up with unusual ideas on their own, so when two brains of that persuasion go at a task, the outcome is well worth checking out. The collective paired off, and even the choices or partner were interesting. Father-and-daughter team Dominic and Laura Negus had the advantage of a close relationship, but it was put to the test and they needed a third family member to mediate a solution to a thorny issue. Laura Jane Atkinson and Hildegard Skowasch had a different issue, with Laura working in the UK and Hildegard in Germany, and the two communicating by post to create their sculptural installation. See what the group came up with at the exhibition, which runs until 13 September.
