Photos by Carolina Rodriguez
For those with a creative thirst and a free Saturday afternoon, this weekend the Art Collaborative will turn afterHours into a neon forest as a venue for free live music. Their fifth bi-annual Collaborate Here event on March 29th will host Northeastern student bands Mark Gilday, Jr. and Bonfire Blue with sets starting at 2:30pm. For those unfamiliar with the student group, The Art Collaborative warmly welcomes participants of all talents and interests, encouraging them to expand their creative palate by collaborating with other artists. Members have dedicated the past six weeks to the construction of a surrealist art installation combining lighting and sculptural elements to enhance the performances on Saturday and bridge the two artistic mediums.
“Collaborative” is a fitting description of the team as its members constantly brainstorm multi-dimensional events which incorporate a wide range of artistic principles. “A Happening”, the Collaborate Here event hosted earlier this fall, used the Fenway Center’s large space to create prompted experiential journeys through a series of smaller rooms organized by three-digit numbers. Some were asked to roll on the floor of a room lined with mirrors while others initiated fights with Siri on their iPhone in another room. Prompts for drawing, dancing, stomping on bubble wrap, and shaking a rain stick yielded laughs and conversations with the other attendees. “A Happening” was the first event of its kind for the Collaborative, serving as a unique platform for a variety of creative experiences.
Meetings are held every Thursday at 7pm in room 394 Ryder, each session geared toward a specific activity. Although recent meetings have focused on building Saturday’s art installation, some past agendas have included hands-on activities such as the abstract Dada collage technique and “light graffiti”, a technique used in photography. The Collaborative also hosts trips to the Museum of Fine Arts, The Institute of Contemporary Art, and the SoWa open market to encourage members to explore the artistic influences around Boston.
The Art Collaborative facilitates a friendly environment for its current members and always encourages new faces to come out and collaborate.
