‘Realm’: Scribble It Down 2018 – 2019
"Scribble it Down", founded by Einat Moglad in 2013, is an international, digital collaboration. Through a sequential process artists from around the world work together to create communal works of art. Each artist contributes to a digital file, then transfers the work to the next, until each artists in the group has contributed to each piece. This process allows artists to bring together diverse backgrounds and perspectives. "Scribble It Down" thus becomes a platform for communication and dialogue that encourages tolerance and understanding between different cultures, traditions, and points of view. The project raises questions about our place in society, our work in relation to others, and how we can give and inspire.
This year’s Scribble it Down was inspired by my ideals of what is the most important role of art these days. It is the ability of art to provide a platform for connecting human experiences, allowing a better understanding of each other, thereby improving the ability of different people and cultures to empathize with each other.
I wanted Scribble it Down to move a step forward, breaking more boundaries than previous iterations. I also wanted to take this opportunity to break my own taboos regarding Scribble it Down. One key taboo that I wanted to break was allowing more of my own involvement with the artists and to be included in the creative process. In the past, I tried to let the dialogue occur through the images only. That limitation allowed Scribble it Down to become a sort of experiment on the number of different interpretations one can have for an image without context.
This year my goal was to have a platform of interaction and communication between the artists in a deeper and more wholesome fashion. In order to reach that goal, I knew I had to be much more involved. In that spirit, I held the collaborative workshop and created more opportunities for artist to speak up, create and have various experiences as well as exercises throughout the artist journey into the mutual sphere of the art creation.
In our five months together, we have formed bridges of understanding to and from each other. We did it with the aid of the Scribble method – rounds, mutual formats - as well as the workshop. All these elements were simply the means of communicating our passions and sharing what’s in our hearts. Through the online medium, we were able to have artists from different parts of the globe working together simultaneously, only this time the process was overlaid in a more spiritual presence and a better understanding of the unique atmosphere that was formed through the Scribble it Down method. We had better success this year by capturing the unique elements each artist could provide compared to previous years.
These spiritual connections have allowed for the creation of the art you see before you now.
Participating artists:
Crisia Constantine, Australia
Michelle Webb, Australia
Nino Khundadze, Georgia
Ray Sketchlight, Israel
Rhea Sajit, India
Sourav Chakraborty, India
Tony Kay, USA
Vimarsh Bhatt, India
Realm
The purpose of this project is to create art with the energy and presence of each artist over iterations. In this year’s focus, the images' metamorphoses were aiming at progressing the art towards a higher place or a new realm of spirituality.
This higher realm isn't necessarily a better or comforting place, but a realm that inherited the energy and spirituality of its creators. It is a place where the artistic act is being made by an individual who is connected to multiple inner worlds. The viewer in this exhibition is stepping into a layered story that is always a singular united concept. Even the very first stage from the very first artist. It is a place where one is the group, and the group is simply an extension of the one.
Group One Gallery
[Click on each image, or name, to see the four progressions]
Nino | Crisia | Sketch | Vimarsh
Don't be mistaken, this is not a utopia. The art created can be either serene or energetic, sad or hopeful, but every image is being conceived as a mutual "baby". A baby who is loved and accepted throughout its growth by all participants together simultaneously.
This collective care is what makes this higher realm possible.
Group Two Gallery
[Click on each image, or name, to see the four progressions]
Michelle | Rhea | Sourav | Tony
Throughout the project, the viewer can observe various hand gestures repeated in the art works. The hands function as visual metaphor of that holding, of that care. A reaching hand, helping hand, protective or emotional hands that are the representation of both the physical hand – the hand that holds the brush (even be it a digital one), as well as the metaphorical hand that reaches out and seeks one’s way toward connection. The different variations show us how this search can be a reaction to the collaborative creation process.
How varied is the emotional scale that dares to progress from the “Self” towards the “Other”?
This journey we have gone through has given birth to acceptance, openness, freedom and human connection. Slowly but surely, we created wholeness that emerges from the artists’ creative energy. Every artwork can be a marker that states that we can move ourselves away from the divide into the divine by coming together.
Words from the artists:
The Scribble It Down project provided a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with others around the world on the concept of building bridges. Not only did the art call for creative interplay between the participants, but the process itself built connecting bridges. My hope is that this kind of collaboration will multiply exponentially to help build the connected, peaceful world I wish to live in.
I am a digital artist living in Oakland, CA. I believe that the appreciation of beauty is a profoundly powerful force in giving people a reason to live. Like religion, it offers a spiritual connection with our world. However, it is far less controversial and divisive than religion. While “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” the sensation of experiencing beauty is universally pleasurable and can be recognized as a moment of serenity).
Tony Kay
I saw the call out for artists to join Scribble It Down on a Facebook page & decided to check it out.. The concept sounded interesting, so I applied and was selected as one of the artists. I’d never collaborated with other artists like this, so it was great to try something new. I struggled at the second round, being the first time I had ever had to paint on someone else’s artwork.... it was hard to make that initial brush mark. Once I did it I felt relief, and released the added value that each artist created working on one another’s initial piece. I found myself looking forward to the next round and the challenge of finding that thing I could add to the image. I think that overall the experience was really good. I definitely grew as an artist and it was fun seeing each piece emerge... I can’t wait to see the final works.
Michelle Webb
I am an artist inside out. I am good at seeing the best parts in the world around and I love to share it through my art, so that more people can enjoy and see.
This project for me was an interesting space to co-create together with other artists. It's really fascinating that few artists can create on one canvas and each can put their footprint on it without making others disappear, it's all one together and that’s amazing. I feel that working on the project helped me to discover myself. How I saw the piece I received and what I added to it made me understand and find new things in me. I was creator, but at the same time observer, enjoying both sides of it.
Nino Khundadze
I am an ambitious, super-energetic and self-motivated aspiring designer; an excited soul based in Bangalore, India. I love hunting down hidden stories, experimenting with different styles and trust me, I am a good team player.
The project 'Scribble It Down' was an exciting opportunity for me to be a part of. Each round gave me different learnings and insights about creativity, craft, thinking and life. It was challenging because we had to work over other artists' already created artwork, yet it was fun. Glad to be a part of this project.
Vimarsh Bahtt