Technology and the internet have opened up a whole new world  of creative prospects

and inspired diverse narratives by making it possible for individual, interdisciplinary online artists to communicate, collaborate, create and share their work online with connected audiences anywhere in the world at any time without moving away from their computer screen or mobile devices. 

As a practicing artist, the internet has given me the freedom and access to pursue areas of interest and forge connections with other artists and their work anywhere in the world, discuss ideas in 'real' time and 'virtually' as if they shared the same physical studio space. 

My work is sent back and forth online across the world without losing integrity, whether for idea sharing, approval from collaborators, feedback from my community of practice or as entries into festivals and galleries for exhibition. 

I feel that I have an invested connection with the artists that I collaborate with and communicate with them via Messenger at any time. We connect by choice not by location. The more we work together, the more connected we become in terms of understanding and responding to one another's work.

The online way of communication is direct, essential, expressive, able to be translated, saved as a record and possibly acts as a filter against information/irrelevance overload.

As an administrator of POOL and POOLVIDEO, I have time and time again observed collaborative online connections forged and continued for multiple ongoing collaborative projects. Film makers, sound artists and writers who develop a good working relationship online also feel connected and comfortable with one another, choosing to continue to work together again and again on new collaborative projects, in their own time frame ... online. I feel that this is an important observation and relates to our modern world scenario where time is of essence in the physical world, yet our online connections are not a discerning factor in terms of time and place. Many online collaborating artists have physical space/time commitments in other areas, and choose to be involved in online collaborative projects because they are devoid of the restrictions of time and place.

 

Online collaboration between artists is vastly enhanced by an online interest specific community of practice or media ecology, a gathering of like-minded individuals who may fall into different stakeholder categories but embrace a general interest specific theme.

In these online communities we are able to find like-minded artists, gain knowledge from a diverse interest pool, share work, gain new perspectives and have fun communicating with a community of practice.

Beyond that, the nature of 'internet tourism' beyond just one online interest group, ensures a cross-referencing of creativity as artists match, mingle and share across interdisciplinary online groups of expertise and interest. Sound artists, film makers, writers and performers. Individuals from these diverse specialist interest groups mix and match, supporting one another in multiple interdisciplinary online social media scenarios.

I have been part of this process of 'internet tourism' between POOL, Poetry Film Live, Sound Space Explorers and many more as we are invited to 'like' and be part of other online groups.

On a personal note, my online collaborations, beyond the personal satisfaction of creating, has resulted in participating in international poetry film festivals and given my work international exposure and support, not just for me, but also to my collaborators. 

I have more interaction online than I do with my local community of practice.

I feel that we are just at the start of a whole new world of interdisciplinary exploration. There is an increasing demand in the modern world for trans and interdisciplinary research across the arts, sciences and humanities to find solutions for increasingly challenging global problems. The field of online art in public space, is squarely placed within these research parameters, with the capacity to impact social, cultural, political and environmental issues via online art activism.

I believe that we are at the start of an online explosion of collaborative outcomes across diverse areas of expertise across the globe. It would be helpful to identify elements of best practice in order for collaborators from different areas of expertise to best understand one another's working requirements and working styles. An openness to experience is paramount in embracing diverse approaches to problems and collaborations. 

I have in the past had to manage unexpected sensitivities in subject matter whilst collaborating, also delays due to my collaborators not understanding my process of practice. Each collaboration has a unique set of working parameters, perhaps a few simple guidelines to discuss at the outset of a new online collaboration may resolve issues later, such as understanding one another's basic working process and expectations at conclusion.

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