Artistic Collaboration as Our Public Work

Last night I went into the city with Sarah to see abstract artist Makoto Fujimura and percussionist Susie Ibarra collaborate in a give and take of avante-garde percussion and abstract painting at International Arts Movement’s Space 38|39.

The night was rewarding on so many levels.  It was an opportunity to be present in one of the most transcendent artistic experiences I have ever witnessed.  The inexpressible burden of artistic creation that unfolded as a catalyst of mutual creation generated a feeling of collective beauty and amazement as a live collaboration blurred the line between artist and audience and became a overwhelming sense of mutual wonder and awe.

I know that sounds complicated, but it was a deeply simple and meditative time.  It was immensely serious and formative yet I was still sitting in a chair and drinking a beer.  Avante-garde percussion and amazing abstract art make Brooklyn Lager taste magnificent.

The space created with a live collaboration was one of a sacred space: a space that allows the artist to take God given talent and then control improvisation in real time.  In a sense, the mutual collaboration is liturgy: this was a public work, both for us within the space and the audience watching via the Internet in cyber-space.  This was not a product given to be consumed.  This was a public work given to all, as Makoto took a painting and broke it as the Eucharist.  Art is meant to be broken forth, so that all can enjoy the hospitality of the sacred space that this collaborative art creates.

Watch the video below for a past collaboration between Susie Ibarra and Makoto Fujimura.