qarrtsiluni: Reflective Borders

in December '08, qarrtsiluni announced their new theme: "Mutating the Signature".

here some lines of the call: "We want submissions where two or more contributors are actively working together. Because process is so important to collaboration, for this issue, we are asking that you share process notes in addition to your submissions. With this issue of qarrtsiluni, we want to emphasize the gnarly, brilliant, iterative, process-oriented mess that is the heart of any collaborative artistic endeavor."

the issue is still running. it's amazing to see all the different collaborations, and to read the process note. and it's so great to be part to this issue, together with Steve Wing. here the link to our collaborate work: "Reflective Borders".

and here, our notes on the process, which also include a reflection on the 2028 project.

Dorothee:
Collaboration is the central element of these months: since a good while, I am part of the group writing project 2028, which connects 7 authors from different continents. Steve is also part of this group, and with both of us being contributors to qarrtsiluni, the idea of working together on a submission seemed like an interesting challenge. It was good timing, too: as 2028 is mainly about revisions right now, the ‘merged signature’ theme brought us back to the try-and-explore phase of a collaboration.

Steve:
After initially working with mixed media, we decided to work purely with images. We each suggested themes with many possible interpretations, settling on ‘reflective’ and ‘borders.’ We each emailed the other some images, then worked with the other’s photos and our own, cropping and combining them to create a collaborative collage. These flew back and forth across the Atlantic as we revised and worked toward a finished version.

Dorothee:
That’s how “Reflective Borders” came together. In fact, it’s a double merger - a merging of the two photo themes: ‘reflective’ and ‘borders’, and the combining of digitally rendered photos into a black/white collage.

Steve:
Working with Doro’s photos was interesting, knowing that each represents not just a view from another continent, but also something she experienced. It was like a secret hidden in the photo. And of course, with my images, I know some of its secrets. Like in Reflective Borders, one of these places no longer exists.

Dorothee:
The process had the feeling of an adventure, a journey, and I think this is true also of the finished work.