Future Projects and Process

In thinking about and expanding on ideas for future I2 collaborations, along with the idea of thinking about the implications of collaboration from the audience perspective, Midori and I came up with ideas stemming from experiences that we have already had in a hospital environment. Midori has had previous experience performing at hospitals as a visiting artist, and I conducted a photography project that aimed to show patient perspectives by alternating images of the hospital environment with images of artworks created by patients as part of the recreational therapy program (titled "View from in Here"). This was a starting point for collaborative possibilities; namely connecting patients with other patients as they undergo artistic endeavors whether through the rec therapy, art therapy or music therapy programs. Allowing patients to "become the artist" and to collaborate/improvise with others in similar circumstances can foster a sense of empowerment, and could be seen as an ideal example of the ideas behind I2 connections (also realizing that a connection does not necessarily have to be made via I2). Visiting artists could also be incorporated into this idea, in that those facilities that do not have these capabilities can perhaps be connected with those that do. Midori and I will be checking into whether a collaboration like this will be possible. Overall, this demonstrates a tremendous capacity for further applications of not only I2 specific connections, but of collaborative process. As Lawrence Halprin states, what we all crave is a "creative involvement in processes"....