T7 – Teamwork for Artists

WHY IS TEAMWORK FOR ARTISTS AN IMPORTANT SKILL?

Nowadays, in our society, teamwork is very important. But do we as individuals know how to work in a team? Do we know what it means? This is a very topical issue. Although we all think that we know how to work in a team, the reality is different. That is why it is necessary to deal with these aspects.

Is it important for artists? Yes, it is. For artists, teamwork has many advantages, both personal and professional. To build a healthy work environment, gaining self-confidence, sharing ideas and inspiration, reaching new goals and never feeling alone. The professionalisation of artists is a very complicated reality and finding support can be a valuable resource. For this reason, teamwork can provide the necessary basis for artists to develop their main objective.

Teamwork is for example really necessary when participating in an Artists’ Collective and the main benefits are:

The workload can be spread amongst the different artists within the group
You can achieve the best possible outcome
Mutual support based on different expertise can be improved
Costs and expenses will be shared amongst the group which lowers the expenses burden compared to an individual exhibition.
To widen the circle of creativity, incl. through the use of social media (i.e. info can be spread across a larger number of prospects and multiplied across everybody’s accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, allowing for a wider audience reach)
Getting a sense of accomplishment faster and more efficiently
Tackling problems before they arise
Exploring better learning opportunities

Artists’ Collectives act as hotbeds of experimentation, learning and innovation, straining the limits of the artistic field. An essential aspect that characterises them is their clear defence of creativity and their creative processes as a collective activity that they often combine with social and protest objectives. Thus, for example, it is common that a small group of more or less steady members incorporate others and collaborate with them while degrees of co-responsibility may vary depending on the projects. Collectives tend to be more and more interdisciplinary, with more diverse profiles. For example, it is becoming common that groups consist of a mixture of artists and architects and sociologists, or artists and people with audio-visual communication and performing arts backgrounds.

Collectives that move in technological spheres and circuits are also becoming more and more common; collaborations between computer scientists and artists are very common in the field of net art and other digital practices. In younger collectives, we are detecting an increase in new forms of collaborative work that reproduce the dynamics and flows of social networks. Attempts to generate networks of collectives and self-managed spaces, on a local, national or international scale, are emerging on a regular basis.

Together they ensure that the final goal can be achieved more effectively and that there are fewer mistakes. Respecting them as individuals and valuing them as an artistic collective will create an atmosphere of happiness.

This module focuses on the importance of teamwork for artists.You will learn what the main characteristics of the Teamwork competencies are, how to recognize your weaknesses and get some tips on how to improve your teamwork skills for a more successful career.