7-day Collaboration at Grev Turegatan 8b. My thoughts.

I was really excited about this initiative made by my classmate Carl Palm, mostly because of the opportunity to spend a week in one place, with people passing in and out of the apartment, just trying to do something with the energy that creates. I knew from before that we are good at doing things together, and this would hopefully bring some new people into the group. For me, this “camp-like” feeling is a great way to exist, having a sort of family who is also on a mission together. Working, eating, and sleeping at the same place. The plan was to keep the whole project open and un-planned until it started, so that the people who showed up at the first morning-meeting would be the ones to brainstorm and come up with ideas for the coming week.

A lot of people actually came and collaborated during the week, more than 40 people was involved in some way, whether it was helping to bring material to the apartment or coming to the dinner and talk with us, being filmed for one of the projects that took place, or simply just visit for a coffee and ask some questions about what we were really doing, a question both difficult and easy to answer. But the planning group was as small as four people, me, Carl, Robert and Lina. We started out with a video project on tuesday which involved around ten people. The dinner we had at thursday, with about 20 invited guests became sort of the main event, with planning the food, inviting all the people we wanted to come, and rebuilding the little furniture we had into a suiting and nice dinner place. It all turned out really well in my opinion, a lot of interesting conversation was made, and a lot of people met. The sounds of the dinner was recorded and later erased, a very interesting event in itself. After thursday, the group was a bit more divided into individuals, each and all doing whatever they needed to do, but we all kept in contact and kept the apartment alive by being there in shifts.

At the end of the week, a lot had happened, and for me personally this time was a very intense and very giving experience. I really appreciate, and can benefit from the mix of work and everyday life that you get in that kind of atmosphere, and the power of sharing thoughts and ideas in an environment  like that. It was also such a great feeling to have a place outside of the school to use as a workspace and meeting point. One thing I also enjoyed a lot was the feeling of self-confidence that we managed to build up together throughout the whole week and in all the decisions made, and also the direct feedback that I myself got for other ideas planned outside of this specific collaboration.

Karin Edvall

Second year student

KKH, spring -06