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Dynarnicl-,D UOSAgrowingumberfartists akertas

collaborators-braistormig,nspiring,arguing,nd skingachtheri l ly uestions

BY HILARIE M. SHEETS

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Michael Elmgreen(left)and IngarDragsetremade he Danishan dNordic Pavilions at the2009 Venice Biennaleinto he home andexhibition space or afictional art collectoi;the traditionalPolynesian sculpturewas installed in theliving oom.

ORTH EFIRST IMEEVER, HESELECTIONcommitteeor heUnitedStates avilion t theVenice iennaleas hosen nartist ollabora-tive, he PuertoRico based eamof JenniferAl-loraandGuillermo alzadilla,hose onceptuallybasednslallationslend cuipture,erformance,phologrdph]'. deo "r d sound.hrs ho'ro e-I ert , hon far he odcl oI co a borarrr,c,ea-oriented rt makinghascome,moving romthe fringe o beon parwith he raditionalrchetypef the artist sa solitarygenius."l t does n a way egitimizeuf typeof practicesbeingan equally alid ormof producingrt," ays llora, 6,whobecameomanticallynvoLvedvithCalzadilla,9,whentheywere tudents. orkingogether asa natural utgrowth f theirnonstop ialogue.odayhey inish achother's enlencesndamplilv ach ther'shoughts. ybridrvorks uchas he one n u,hicha musician mergeshrough

a hole n apiano o playBeethoven's de o Joy on the keyboard ackwards ecentlv edormedn thealrium f theMuseum f Modern rt-can take earso gestateonceptually.Theduo made he connectiono Beethoven'snthemwhile n lstanbul, nd ater ound hepiano he ywantedna Munich uilding ' itha Nazihistory. ithouta signaturestyle,heirart oftenseemso havemultiple ersonalit ies."Thewholeprocess f conr,'ersationnd seeing hings romdifferent oints f vielv s mportant,"ay sCalzadilla.lpersonallyik ewhen heparts ren't econcilablend hedifferent ositionsetpassednto hework." heprocessisn't always mooth.Argumentsare mportant oo,"Alloraadds.We eel t 'sessentiaLtoealiy onvinceach therwhy t isyou ik esonething."Collaborationas akenmanv uisesn modem rt. n the1920s nd'30s.heSurrealistslayfuilvweakedhe dea fan ndividualur\or rd rqui ' i tp orp.e-dgdme l \ort

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the 60sand 70ssawa newmodelemerye, scouplesincludingGilbert& George, d andNancyKienholz,Christo ndJeanne-Claude, nd CiaesOidenburgndCoosje an Bruggen, ll of them o-manticaswell asartisticpartners-startedmakingwork togethernlifelongpartnershipshat obscuredtheir ndividuality. s opposedolarger ollectives ith a more luidmembership,uchas he GuediiaGirls, heseartist eams ach aveproduced single ody of work asshared uthors.Thoseoint ventures aved heway for the currentgeneration fcollaboratives-ncluding traightandgay couples,riends,andsib-lings.But they often aced esistance, ccordingo LisaFreiman,curatorof contemporary rt at theIndianapolis useum f Art and hecommissionerf theAlloraandCalzadillaxhibition or the U.S.Pavilion.She s alsowriting a bookon Oldenburg'sorkbeforeand

For their 2006work clamor,lennilerAllora and Gui l lermoCalzadil la

researched he design of detensivebunkels and the history of military musiq

crealing a squat structure that issuesa din ol intermixed war songs from

va ous cultures.

Freiman. hecredits hat largely othe fact hat Oldenburg,ike Christoan dKienholz,ada distinct ol ocareer efore eamingwith his wife.Bu tsh ealso ay st was n partbe -causeOldenburg as he onewhodrew heconcept n thepieceofpaper. ln an erawhen deasare heart, why werehe. deasany essvaluable?" reiman sks. ikemanyof their contemporaries,lloraandCalzadilla adno publicartisticidentit iesrior o theircollaboraLion,whicheliminates ome f thatbaggage. till,preconceptionsndbiasesinger;t's mpossibleor twopeople o apply or a GuggenheimFellowship ith equalstaluson asingleapplication.

In 1995, henSammy ucherwas nvited o represent enezuelaat the VeniceBiennale, e had opetition o getAnthonyAziz ncludedashis partner. Collaboration wasvery rarewhen westarted," alisCucher,ow 52,whomeIAziz,49, n schooln 1991,duringhis collaboration ith vanBruggen, hichbegan n1976and continued ntil shedied n 2009. VanBruggenwasalways dticized or not beingan equalpartner," ays

when hey began singdigitalmedia o create oiiticalsatireaboutcensorship.The dea hat we are wo gaymen, ivingtogethetworkingogether-nota ot of rnodelsxisted

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Gilbert& George ere he guyswho gaveuspermissionodo whatwe do." Cucher ndAziz havenoticed ome eluc-tanceover he years rom dealerso workwith artist eamsbecause f a perceived sk of instability n the brand. Col-lectoNalso hink of the artistas his rare ndividualwho hasa parli( ld r in dof magico producehings hdtar eunique," aysCucherAziz,whoseheritages Lebanese,ndCucher, hose am-ily is iving n Israel, renow for the first time,addressingtheirpersonalelationshipn their work, nterweavingtwith laryergeopolitical omplexitiesn video nstallationsfor a 2012showat the Indianapolis useum.Onepiecetracksa typicalday at the pair's tudio excepthaftheartistsaredressed sclowns.Againsta cacophony f musicand adiodiscussionsf unrest n the MiddleEast, heartistswheel heir chai$ over o eachother's omputersordiscussion,ackphotos o thewall, drawanowsbetweenimages, uild scenes ith tiny toy soldiers, ndsetup avjdeoshootof themselvesancing ndholdinghands."We'reperforming urselvesn costumes; e'renot actinglike clowns," aysAziz. Thecostumesad o dowith a certain madnesshat'sgoingon there," ontinuesCucherCertainly ot all artistshave he temperamento shareauthorship, ut some all nto theircollaborativeolesnatumlly.Asundergraduates,n the ate 9B0s,HeatherSchatz nd EricChan ponta-neously witched hairs n a drawingSammy Curfier (left) and AnthonyAzizin By Aporia, Pu re and Simple,2010,avideo in whicfi the couple go abouttheir daily livesdressed as clowns.

class nd inishedeachother's ompositions.ince hat be-ginning, hey havebuilt an archiveof abstract Gwingsbased n their verbalexchanges.hese characte$," s heycall hem, n tum form the buildingblocksof their multime-dia nstallations one n collaboration ith larger ommuni-ties, ncluding he staff of the Albright Knox AIt Gallery nBuffalo,where hey will havea show n 2012. Wekeeptrackof our conversations,nd hat dialogues actuallyanartwork n itself,"savsChan.DRAWINGSLIKEWISEBECAMEavehic lefor exchangesmongmembers f the Cuban eamLosCarpinteros-thoughnoneof the anistshad previouslyworked n the medium. Westarted oing hesedrawings,sometimesery elaborate,o communicate ith eachotherand convince our partnerof the dea," aysMarcoCastillo.He wasoriginallya painter, ut oined orcesn school,nthe early 1990s,with Dagoberto odfiguez ndAlexandreArrechea no ongerpartof the collaborative),ho wereworkingwith carpentry.Wewrote etters o eachotheronthesedrawings." hese ighly conceptualarge-scale orkson paper,whichhumorously onflate uilt spaces nd socialdynamics, rean mportantpart of their output,and severalare ncluded n their show his monthat SeanKellyGalleryn NewYork."We don'tproposehat the work hasto be humorous, ut you can maginehow funny it is to work n a team,"

h

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saysRodriguez, l " l t 'snot onlv alloui ,lrglLing Casli l locollnters, RealLy?""Humof tends o ge t dismissed y the arl r ! ofld as something that'snot scriousor valuable, vhen t caf ll e qul teseriousanclan important generator .r ldeas nolesI- re iman. lot of lhesecol labotal i ' .es re apping nt o thecfeat ivepossib i l i l iesof plar,, herethcre'snot so nluchsell ci:nsorship Ind-"ed, umor anclanexlrovertcal flenlai ion seem o be common characleriSticSof nany teamsloda\."We n-"\,efstop$onde ng rhv neNso.iocultural henomena fehappenmg. anoou r pfojectsclerive lorr askingsil l-r 'questions,"ccofding o Nlichaell lmgreen, 19 , ndlngarDragset,12 .Llerl in-basedcandinavlanou o \! lo

Working as Los Carpinteros ,Oagobedo Rodriguez (left)and MarcoCasti l lomake convoluted rawingsan d ancifulscufptures-such s CongaNegra single),2010-as team,

never evealingwho contr ibutedwhat to a piece

leamed p in 199-1.rd \ho |esplieclo inler\.ie\\ 'qLLestionsin on.'\oice. Ihcir thenl.icalmuLl ime.l iaieces inclucllngthcif sencl rp l prclentious .t coll(r .1ofst thc 2009 icniceBiennaLc,l t ich Ieatlrrcd staged one adofned \' i thcoletedarh\'orLs nd phonL calestat( 'ngentsosslpnlg bout hepi,ople \to l i\ 'ecl hcre ar ep.oduct5 l theif e\lensile c\cnanges I loea5,

r!oaries, ncl nlhusia5m. \\iorkrngas ararlrst luool aourselimilsho$ nafcissisticone canbe," he\,obsef\,e. Th eoutconle\!i l l naturallVle nore.onll l ] lrnraallvetnceit $as al.c.rclYisaussed el$eenmofepartles lunng ncpfo(css l fei l t / i ll ion " ElnlgreenDfagset fecuITfnllfcfeatrng h\'o nlantneatcrprolectlooselrbas-"clnlheif collaborati\,ce\pellcnces,l l ledIlapp\ Da\ it i he'\r / l lb/Jd. o be

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perfomed in Dublin n September ndat Pedoma in NewYo* in NovemberPerformance as he startingpointfor the duo known asTypeA. AdamAmes,who worked n video,and An-drew Bordwin,odginallya photogra-pher,met n the ate 1990s houghAmes's ormer wife, the dealerSaraMeltzer,who was exhibitingBordwinat the time.Theartists nitially feltcompetitivewith eachother over whocouldbe funnier or stronger Overtime they becameriendlier,andstartedcollaborating n videos hatshowed he absurdityand pathosofmen competing-whether n a hand-shake astinghalf an hou! a mce oscale wall, or a iteralpissing on-test.Theywereconstantly ackandforth betweenstudios, brainstomingdozens f ideasat a time,someofwhich wouldn't materializeuntil yearslater"!Ve werestill makingwork on ourown while working together,"saysBordwiq 46,who describeshis or,rrn

Andrew Boldwin (left) and AdamAme6of TYpeA In one image romtheir tlv-part photosedesSprfaake rn7k),2000,Thepailtrquently wolk wlth the themesofdvahyandmasqrlinity, s n then@n faryet (pinl ,2O1O.

meetingplaceslat we discovered."Ames says, [ encouraged ndrcw tobring in all his personality,and hechallengedme to bing in more rigor-ous deas nd hought."Both a.rtistsgaveup tieir solopmctices n 2004after visito$ to tieh studio were in-variablymoredrawn o theircouaboE-tive work. In recentyears tey havebecomemore nvolvedwil}l large-scalesculptural nstallatiolr and their piece.Barrer(2009) ravels o the AldrichContempomryArt Museum n Con-necticut in June."Wekeepeach otierhonest,"saysAmes."You think aboutthe rcmantic imageof the artist alonein the studio-where're }Iechecks ndbalances?Who'skeeping an eye on hisorrntli^cp.6n.pni.?"

A BUILT-IN YSTEM orcri-tique is a common ieme in discus-sionswith all theseduos. Everyartistdebateswith themselves, hinks theirwork through," saysMike Stam. "Weeachhave hat intemally and then wephotogmphsas being very theory based.Adamchallengedmy way of working asbeing ncongruouswith who I am. Weconnectedon humor, and the work we do together s anhonest outgo&th of how our relationshipstarted andtheextemalize t aswell," saysDoug Stam,completinghisbrothe/s thought. '1 think it really helps."The48-year-oldidentical twins, known for thet monumentalcompositephotographs,and more recently for sculptural work, have

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;L -. :a " t 'aL^ + 't i; .

arl lnl )r)r, rr .l i i rr ' th! \ '\ ! i ' t l l l l lL ' l .L: tL i i l lgI rr i l f r ! , rrr: i i \ t LJI h! \ 1. r( i l , . photogr, ll ) l : \ , i r i i l l ] l l ]h! rarl l f r , tl )nf i ,n(l JrrLl r 'i \ l( l I r) L l l )\ \ r l hLl l lo lr1l r, rr, ' , i \ : \1: i j ' Ir{ i (rr ' : r l nr l lL ' l l l r( , l t lL! 1r( ' i 1' , ) \ falu iL l l a gl .L l l l a l l i )r l i( L i rber. l t i )r LLc: ia1rar: i i L l t r ( la l - l l i l_ i l IL l r LLr{, al t l l ) . I l l )oa)l )ole: l . ! l r{ (L r! f lh, 'i \ i lh l ( ,pr, r)rr l rr raol oiI rr ] \ '1t,1rDt, lLL, trtr lLr-: rLf r r 'l \ r ' t . I hr ' rot .t i I r l l ler i \ ' .1 ' r i )rLf l tnttal !. f (L ori f l lorLi ( ' ! l r , i l , r lLr\ \ral rtL! | ! tnnl ;nl la lgfo\\ . ' in i ! i ) , ruq tr '1 ikt ', l lLr l : . 1 \1. : ]Lrin 1 c, l ilna\ ! \erc a(lLrni oLlabor. l :o l ! .hLLl l l ' . ' . f l r ' l \ , rr Lh!r " r'n l r ' t , I f l rcq i r l \1. r\ . o ! l r(( ' iL ul l

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With a team of rockclimbers,win brothersMike (left)and OougStarnbuil l Big Bambi on Ihe roof of the

MetropolitanMuseumof Art hrough he courseof 2010Theirphotog aphs,suchas BBMet 04.2010kl151,20O9-1o'

f ix the constantly volvingwork in time-

pr. , i ,a , l l l r l r ' l i i l l ' l , l l ! f . r , l { i l i , ln l l r i : l l Lr l \ l . l 'l l ) l l l ll. \l , r 11! ,1 ' rrr l .l r l iL ' \ i , l t l l l , , r l tr I l lLnl tL \ l , l l l ( ' , l l Lt! , l r l ] l r |D(, t: : r(1.Lrl l . l l l i ,L lal l i rr l l l r t i . ! ( iL)Li ' !L : \ ' \ r '

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workedstmight,without sleeping,and t was ike t}Ierc was ateamof eight of us," saysKavanaugh.The multipliereffectof our energywas otally infectious,and, n my mind, that'swhy we've continued o collaborate."A similar sort of efficiency comesrom dividing up thework. Walter Martin, 57, and PalomaMuioz. 44, who showtheir nstallations f snowglobes ndphoto$aphsat ppOWin New York, where they will havean exhibition in April,have worked togetherfor 17years.Unlikemany eams.heirareasof expertiseareclearlydefined.Mar-tin first builds themodelwith clay andsmall igures, whichboth artists hencri-tique and modify. Ifit's a set or a photo-graph,Munozcreatesthe paintedbackdropand addsatmosphereand ightingbeforetaking he picture."Forus, t's aquestionof economyo somedegee-it's very effi-cient n termsof skillsand moneyand imeto be able o poolour

WadKavanaughleft)and StephenNguyen uitdsite.spclticfmmersive nstallationsIn papel,sudt as Strrped Canaryon theSubtenaneanlori6n,2oo5, at the Map Room n por and,Maine.

resources,"aysMartin. "lt's aboutsupport n an emotionalsense,oo. It's very easy or an artist o get demonlized.think thereare alsoa ot of unspoken ollaborations.twasn'talwaysacceptableo collabonte."Today, s he tools or creatingall different kindsofconversations-through ell phones, -mails,Facebook,blogging-are fosteringmorecollaborationhroughoutcontemporaryife, and teamwork s takenas he norm n t}lespheresof theater, iLn-making,and televisio4our notionsof artisticauthoEhip are multi-plying andbecomingmorecomplex.l reallybelievewe are iving ina momentof tie spiritof collaboration,"saysAziz. Through the In-temet and socialnet-working andplatfomstiat exist,people hareinformationand rc-sources. heret agreatersense hat that'show thingsgetdone,not from solation.There'sa new modelbeing ormed for howartists hink aboutthestudio practice." I