One of my favorite NYC art ladies is Blaise Niosi of Blaise & Co. She recently launched Collaborate, an online discussion forum for emerging artists to discuss ideas, ask questions and make some all-important connections. Collaborate is hosted by a different “art world influencer” (Blaise’s words) every month, so I was obviously honored when I got asked to host the month of April. Nope, no April’s Fool’s Joke. I’m hoping for interesting discussions, questions, etc and would obviously love to see some of you participate as well.
To get some more background info on Collaborate, I interviewed Blaise, as well as Chris Clark, a print maker based in Philly, whose been actively participating in the forum, to get both sides of the story!
Liv: What sparked the idea of Collaborate?
Blaise: As a creative business development advisor to emerging artists, my company gets our artist clients sales, press coverage, and a better understanding of their market base. As with any business, we provide these services for a fee. I wanted to ensure that we offset that, however, and made it clear that we acknowledge the financial and emotional burdens that many emerging artists experience. Collaborate was born of my desire to provide the artists with an open arena to discuss their experiences with like-minded individuals whom they would never otherwise interact with – all completely free of charge. Collaborate is my ode to the artist; a gesture of thanks and understanding for working with us, or just visiting the website.
Liv: What are you hoping to achieve with and through Collaborate?
Blaise: Collaborate is a tool for artists to use to better his or her understanding of the creative process, use each other as a sounding board, or just vent about their daily trials and tribulations. As with all things, however, I believe that Collaborate will be a useful tool to the artist only if he or she really puts it to use. One of theBlaise + Co. core values is that the artist must generate his or her own opportunities for success, rather than waiting for someone to give it to you. I hope Collaborate will reinforce this in the artists; as an artists-only online forum, it will only be as useful or successful and they make it.
Liv: Thoughts about the first month of Collaborate!
Blaise: The first month went very, very well! I was not sure what to expect, especially because the success of Collaborate is more or less out of my hands, as I am not an artist who’ll be participating. The best I could do was round up participants from around the world, lock-in a genuine and hard-working young photographer as our first guest-host, and hope for the best. It was sort of a “sink or swim” situation. Launching Collaborate took a lot of hard work behind the scenes which the artists will never know about; I’m really happy with the way they’ve taken advantage of this new tool to better their careers and have put it to good use. There were a lot of nay-sayers who thought it would be futile to present artists with a social media discussion tool. I sincerely think that they mis-underestimate the emerging artist’s ability to invest in and propel his or her own career. I’m so proud of the artists!
Liv: Why are you participating in Collaborate?
Chris: When I received the invitation from Blaise & Co. to participate in Collaborate, there was no way I could turn it down. The professionalism of Blaise & Co. and their support of emerging artists is unmatched. I knew other amazing artists would feel the same so I wanted to be a part of this community. Networking and making connections is invaluable to artists. When you are in an art school setting you automatically have this sense of community and connections to others with similar interests. You have access to studio spaces and equipment and all of the energy and ideas and knowledge of your peers and the instructors. But when you leave art school things can change very fast. Some artists aren’t able to live in metropolitan areas or they may not have the opportunity to stay within an artistic community. Some can not afford or do not have access to studios.
Having an online forum like Collaborate is an amazing tool. It’s a place where artists can voice their opinions and trade ideas and techniques without having to leave their studios or living rooms.
Liv: How important is “collaborating” with other artists for you? Art work, exchanging and discussing ideas, etc.
Chris: Collaborating with others is very important to myself and my art. As an artist, surrounding yourself with a community of artists and art professionals is very useful. The inspiration and artistic energy that I get through collaborating in this way is necessary for my survival as an artist. Learning about materials and techniques through other artist’s experimentation has helped my work in so many ways. I worked in a bit of a vacuum for a few years after college and I never want to do that again. I am lucky to have surrounded myself with a great network of artists, gallery owners and art lovers in Philadelphia. Blaise & Co’s Collaborate is yet another very important addition to my community.
Liv: If you could collaborate with any creative in the world (artist, art historian, critic, museum, etc), who would you like to work with and why?
Chris: Wow, there are so many. I can’t name just one, so I throw a few names out there. I would love to have had the chance to work with Robert Rauschenberg. He is one of my earliest influences and you can still see his influence in my work. Another would be Shepard Fairey. His collage work is amazing. The layering and attention to detail in his work is something that influences almost every one of my collages. The work of Christo Jeanne-Claude is something that I deeply admire. I am very attracted to everything from their proposal dwgs and collages to their finished works. I’ve spent a lot of time around construction so I can relate to almost every aspect of their works from start to finish.
