The mention of the Conflict and Fragmentation collaborations in the previous post made me want to reflect more on the power of the collective thought through art.

We had our second round of collective deconstruction 6 months after the first, and unlike the first, which was more of a playful experiment with the work we had made before, the second one was more serious: many artists created work specifically for this event, it was accompanied by live improvised music and resulted in a public exhibition.

Some artists, like Bryan Rawlings, Claire Clark and myself have made pieces that were already fragmented and easy to manipulate, theoretically preserving the essence of wholeness when mixed with the other things. Perhaps, partly, this move was a response to the pain of seeing your work being broken that some have experienced during the first trial. I have contributed a set of images, which represented a conceptual fragment for me, photographed recently in London and Belfast, printed on aluminium and set into wooden blocks. The other piece was a jacket made out of an artwork that I have previously exhibited twice: the multiple exposed photo I took at the Holocaust cemetery in Poland.

What followed was an hour long performative deconstruction and rearrangement, putting things together in new ways in order to make new art forms.

The result, in my opinion, was both curious and unexpected in some places, and very chaotic and random in others. Everyone was following their own rhythm. It was allowed to undo somebody's arrangement, although some pieces had limitations on what can be done with them. Only one vase was smashed this time. There were interesting ideas like instant photos of the process made by Ashley Cerrino, which were then incorporated into the final display. It was a very positive experience as reflected by the majority of the participants, with a sense of a mission and togetherness.

So what was the mission? Why do a second version? Different people have expressed all sorts of reasons for their participation which are all presented in the clip below. Mine was to create an attempt at a collective group healing session, which is not like classic therapy where verbal language and storytelling are used. I made an assumption that people will subconsciously bring a piece that represents something they would like to talk about if they could express it. Allowing others to manipulate this piece is similar to opening a door to something vulnerable, without the need to explain what it is. Can we support each other through this? Are we heard? Do we write a collective story? How do we feel afterwards?

I did a questionnaire to find out how everyone felt after the activity, and the majority commented that they had an uplifting experience and felt connected with the group.

Visually, however, we still haven't achieved harmony, but there was a lot of drama in this story, and a lot of 'connecting pieces' through tying knots, arranging little compositions, wrapping, uncovering and building towers out of separate pieces.

The art form here did represent the collective mind as a hive, with thoughts evolving and pieces coming together.