The pitch

This is a rambling brainstorm document I sent to Derik Badman a month or so ago. It is at least an outline of what I imagine people can do with the general concept presented here:

a pitch for a possible transformative comics collaboration

Would it be possible for two or more artists to make a collaboration where all involved are allowed to redraw/-paint/-mix/-interpret/-place each other’s work? With the digital tools available it is possible to save and document different versions or stages in the process, hopefully eliminating the individual egos that might get hurt that another person adds to (or takes away from) a personal pet piece. The previous versions would be published (or at least preserved) and every addition to the project would be another contribution to the “image bank”, another image to be reinterpreted or modified. So, to the point, and specific to my interests, how would the collaboration be structured for a pair or group of comics artists to produce work together in a looping process of potentially unending transformations? In the following thought experiment I’m assuming the starting point is a collaboration in itself, but it might also be one artist transforming another artist’s work that existed before the project began.

• Artist A and Artist B create a comic together. This will be the prototype or matrix that later versions will evolve from. How the artists specifically divide the work is not relevant to this example, but may affect the overall direction of the collaboration or the way work is divided later? Perhaps I’m thinking too conceptually at this point, and we definitely don’t want to set down too many dogma that may stunt the creative work later…
• Artists A and B rearrange the matrix to create reiteration 1
• Artist C adds to the artwork of the matrix, creating reiteration 2
• Artists D and E create reiteration 3, a new interpretation of the matrix using found imagery.
• Artists B and E create reiteration 2.1 by expanding reiteration 2 with new insert panels elaborating on a parallel symbolism or whatever
• Artist D creates reiteration 4 by merging elements from reiteration 1-3
• Writer F rewrites all text in reiteration 3, creating reiteration 3.1. The numbering system in this example would reflect how far the work is removed from the matrix, and what work it is built on. Combining parts of later-generation works overrides the whole system and creates a new “root” reiteration as above? I dunno, it’s not supposed to be a perfect ordering at this point.
• Artist G creates reiteration 3.1.1 by creating new artwork to the text from reiteration 3.1
• Artist C creates reiteration 3.2, replacing all art in reiteration 3 with similar compositions from renaissance artists
• 4chan user H draws handlebar moustaches on all characters in reiteration 3.2, creating reiteration 3.2.1
• Matt Madden joins and makes a palindrome reiteration 3.2.1.2.3 noitaretier emordnilap a sekam dna snioj neddaM ttaM
• Artists B, D and E create reiteration 2.2 by redrawing on top of Artists A,B and C’s combined artwork in reiteration 2
• etc Okay, those are lame examples. I wanted to emphasize the freedom and possible playfulness in reworking different iterations of the original work. Plus, by having some kind of versioning system, the backlog will grow and function as a documentation of (hopefully) unfettered creative process and transformation. The big burning question is, does anyone want to contribute and be part of a dumb viral (or cancerous) scheme like this? Is it just a formalist parlour game? Or worse, is anyone doing this already? I have no idea, but Saman Bemel Benrud’s http://samanpwbb.github.io/comic/ looks a bit like it. I’d like to add, this could take on any form, even individual reiterations could be in different media (online comics, print books, magazine strips, GIF animations, street art or exhibitions), there should just be some kind of recognition of the source material/project and a trackback to…? …a database or registry of the different versions? The works advertising the umbrella project which informs about the other works, etc, feeding back on and off each other with every step in the chain. Much like the dependency of one new reiteration upon the previous one.