It seems that there is a bit of a zeitgeist occuring.  And that seems to be collaborative artwork!  An article of the CNN website in their tech section detailed the growing phenomenon of using the internet to collaborate on artworks.  the link is right here.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/19/online.collaborative.art/index.html 

I recently joined a social network called Brooklyn Art Project.  At a gathering of fellow artists for one of the groups on that I site at the restaurant 5 Front in DUMBO I met one of the founders, James Cospito who along with his brother runs that site and a design firm called Strut NYC , respectively www.brooklynartproject.com and www.strutnyc.com.  It’s a great site and I joined a couple of groups there that are engaged solely with the creation and promotion of collaborative work.

So it would seem that we are not alone after all (not that we ever really thought that)!  

We have some exciting updated photos for the ongoing Lux + Lux project.  We will keep you updated as soon as we have them online!  Until next time, Make something dammit!

Love,  id # 254893, sociolevel D: HVAC repairman

http://stone-thrower.com/2009/06/16/collaboration

Two new image updates for Lux + Lux.   One is piece two stage two and the other is piece three stage one.  Both have now been sent to boulder Lux and I, Brooklyn Lux, am awaiting the arrival of piece 1 stage 3 and piece 4 stage 1.  This is really starting to grow into something.  Enjoy

project 1, piece 2, stage 2

project 1, piece 3, stage 1

7/19/09

So, just a little update for you all.  Lux and I, Lux, are coming along nicely with our project and I wanted to share with you all a couple of photos of our progress. Below is the  the second stage of the first piece by Lux + Lux in our Brooklyn to Boulder project. My esteemed other Lux has changed and improved upon my initial scratchings and is preparing to send it back to me to work on again.  I am very happy to see this painting evolving the way it is so quickly!

I have also begun to work on the image she started a month ago.  Below is a picture of how that painting looked when it arrived.  I will update soon with my changes and contributions to the piece.  Happy creating to you all!

1. Throw an event! get a BIG piece of paper or many small pieces of paper, tell everyone to bring something with which to make marks, and make your guidelines for the project (colors, media, theme, imagery, etc….).  You can invite friends or colleagues to watch it like a performance.  Make it an event for charity.  Make it a reason to get drunk with your friends. Maybe both.  Go wild.

2. Start a mail piece. Artists have experimented with this for some time with varying degrees of success. This collaboration method’s ideal expression would be that of a never-ending conversation or chain dialogue that would be the visual record of a group of artists over small or great distances. Our first project for cosmonart.com is an example of this type of collaboration. Check it out at our projects page at Lux + Lux!

3. If you’re old skool do the above by fax!  I’m just throwing out the craziest ideas I can think of.  Who are we to say that you can’t create something utterly and bewilderingly beautiful using only toner and fax numbers?  If you think it’s crazy, prove us wrong!  A quote from de Kooning comes to mind – “The only way to prove the impossible is by going out there and doing it!”

4. Do something digital or with photography. Maybe take a digital photograph, send it to a designer friend of yours who then emails his/her image to another, who then prints it out and gives it to a painter who collages with it, who takes a picture and so on and so on.

5. Teachers: start a paint-pal project with another art class or to really stir things up, … a math class.  See how your kids respond to collaborative artworking as a game. This is a great way to get some group cohesiveness with kids. I’ve seen it happen and it is really inspiring and often quite funny to see what kids come up with together.

Really, let your imagination have some fun and find out where working with others will take you. When you put your creations out into the world they will surprise and delight you upon their return as wholly different creatures. This is why it is so important to think of this not as “Your” work but as exercise and as fun that keeps the eye tight, the hand loose, and the mind bright!

We leave you with what is likely to become our motto:……..Go Forth and Multiply!    

…And don’t forget to tell us about it with photos and words and paintings and smiles !!

Hello and welcome to our first foray into the world of blogging.  Cosmonart welcomes you to come join a new experiment in collaboration, online!

We are preparing to launch a rich and interactive website in the coming months and we want to open a forum with the art community. We hope to make it a forum from which a new explosion of artistic dialogue can take off and, by tuning into this blog, you have opened the window to an entirely new view of creating art!

This new website will be devoted to starting and surfing a global tidal wave of creativity! To be exact it is focused on building a space, or a virtual studio, for the creation of collaborative art using the vast interwebs. It will resemble and incorporate social networking aspects, with a strong and specific focus on the creation of new collaborative works amongst the community.

Some Highlights Include:

1. Artist Profiles
2. Virtual Portfolios
3. Virtual Studio Spaces
4. Virtual Galleries
5. Forum/Blogging Integrations
6. Social Networking Feeds & Interactions
7. Extensive Search & Scour Capabilities

This will be a website where artists will be able to meet each other from all parts of the globe and work together on new collaborative projects and shows; where teachers and schools can have their students start collaborative projects with students in another place; where gallery owners and curators can engage with artists to implement collaborative techniques and theories in theirs shows.

In the end, this site is about communication. It is Creativity and Abundance! It is about getting artists (professional and private) out of their shells and getting the professional art world creatively involved with artists instead of merely buying and selling the work. It is about erasing the stinginess that is too pervasive in the art world right now and getting everybody to share and expand their amazing visions and views of the world!

All we need from you to help us get this started is your participation in this blog! We are inviting you to take part in a controlled experiment which will consist of a tight group of artists and their original collaborations.

We will be posting a registration link shortly, and will use this blog as a fourm to help us understand what people want from the service we will be providing and make the process as collaborative, efficient and fun for everyone as possible.

Until then, go forth and multiply!!!