Speech time
Karsten Jensen
ARTS 1905
Freshman Seminar
The Art of Collaboration
This course has turned out to be very different than I initially expected; I imagined it would only explore arts in the twin cities area, but it has gone much farther beyond that, and I must admit that I love it. My concept of collaboration before was actually quite limited: I knew to a certain extent what it meant and that it was necessary in music at least, because I had participated in so many ensembles and musical productions that I knew everyone had to work together to accomplish the goal of creating the final piece of music. However, I now realize how important it is in every aspect of life, and even more so in working with those who perhaps do not share your same interests or views. Ignoring, even erasing the sketches of stereotypes is essential to any kind of collaboration, whether the arts are involved or not, and in every aspect of life. Collaboration means breaking down the borders of disrespect or discomfort between individuals and groups – learning to coexist and work with others that we might not normally, to combine your talents with theirs to not only create something more interesting or meaningful, but also to learn from others, and them to learn from you.
I think the class that we all loved and collaborated best together in was when we made dinner at Michael’s Open Eye Figure Theater studio in groups. Each group had to work together in preparation as well as deciding what to cook, assigning roles, and bringing what we each knew to make it a better experience overall. It was feasible to collaborate in this situation, likely because most of us are familiar with cooking with others before. The Banana Ritual, however, was new to us all. Probably most of us partake in rituals every day, whether they are habits or rituals that are religious or part of our own family’s tradition. I think this was the most I have been stretched to be creative collaboratively, but it was very interesting and fun to be crazy, creating a fanciful ritual that was of utmost importance in the moment – at the same time, I realized how silly and even intimidating other rituals in life are, and that makes me want to step out of society’s constraints. I also loved going to MIA, though we worked as individuals there instead of collectively to find. I don’t think anything has failed completely so far, save for the shadow theater boxes, during which my group was the “dysfunctional group� until the last day. I think something changed in our perspectives that day, because we enjoyed working together and had a lot of fun.