This exposition presents a format designed to experience and experiment with writing as a relational process in a workshop setting.
The format consists of an iterative process that interweaves individual and collective moments of writing. It begins with a selection of texts that initiate the course of the whole sequence and set its horizon.
Depending on the specific setting and purpose, variations can be introduced at different stages of the process. In particular, different ways of selecting the texts that form the basis of the process are presented below.
The workshop format aims to activate a shared experience among participants. It has been implemented in a variety of contexts in higher education and transdisciplinarity in the arts, bringing together participants from different fields and backgrounds.* It draws on the transformative potential of collective writing practices to address the following questions: how to move towards becoming singular multitudes? how to build temporary communities of practitioners from a diversity of singlar multitudes?
As it is intended to be transferable to further contexts and situations, the present exposition is conceived an invitation to further adopt and adapt the workshop format in different settings. By doing so, it aims to contribute to the fostering of communities of practitioners engaged in writing as an aesthetic practice of research across disciplinary boundaries.
OVERVIEW
The format consists in an iterative process that starts from a selection of texts and is articulated in two main steps:
The sequence ends with open questions and discussion.
1.2. Writing in resonance
We let our writing be effected and affected by the present situation – in other words, we engage writing from a position of presence and openness to the present situation, allowing the texts just heard to echo and resonate on the page, allowing words and sentences to emerge and unfold in their own rhythm, allowing textuality to take shape through writing...
We write for about 10 minutes. A gentle tone signals that the time is up.
As a point of departure, the selection of texts plays a crucial role in affecting the course and tonality of the whole process to follow. Depending on the specific context, the texts can be gathered according to different purposes:
A. Exploring resonances
B. Deepening resonances
TO BEGIN WITH...
Getting together
The participants are welcomed and the group activated with a warm-up sequence.
Setting the scene
In a short input, the facilitator presents the horizon of the sequence as well as the general perspective adopted and the intended goals (see different versions below).
1.1. Voicing textualities
Once everyone has set up their writing environment, the whole group gathers and stands in a circle for the first step: a collective reading of the texts collected for this particular workshop.
The texts are distributed among the participants, who get acquainted with the text they hold in their hands and then take turns to read it aloud.
We try to tune in and find a pace that allows the different texts and the various voices to resonate in the space.**
Once we have read and listend to all the texts, each of us returns to their writing environments and starts writing.
[Texts are] acts encapsulated in time, ‘enacted’ every time they are spoken aloud or read silently. I like to think of them as performances and not as inert and ‘dead’ objects. 12
a. Inviting texts from participants
In this version, participants are invited beforehand to bring a text of their choice. It might be a text they written themselves or composed from selected textual material. In any case, it shall be relevant for their own practice and/or project, and they shall be willing to share it with others in the context of the workshop.
In November 2024, I facilitated a workshop which took place at the istituto svizzero in Rome in the context of a series of events dedicated to writing practices between the arts and the sciences. The workshop brought together participants from the arts and humanities, fellows in residence at the istituto and external practitioners. In this open setting, it was intended to elicit possible echoes and resonances between the various practices of the participants, and I accordingly emailed the following invitation beforehand:
... there is no such thing as “getting it right”, only “getting it” differently contoured and nuanced...22
A. Exploring resonances
When the format is implemented in open settings, i.e. with participants who do not know each other and/or who come from different backgrounds, the main purpose might be to experience writing as relational process, to become aware of possible resonances between different projects and/or practices, to make room for potential echoes, to expand the singular practices and/or projects of the participants, but also to encourage alliances and/or foster possible collaborations...
In this case, it is appropriate to let the texts reflect the diversity of approaches of the participants.
Dear Niccolò, Dear Noha, Dear Ambra, Dear Domenico, Dear Giovanni, Dear Hunter, Dear Hanne, Dear Gurkawal, Dear Guilia, Dear Roberta, Dear Cathryn, Dear Caroline, Dear Ruth, Dear Quinn,
You have registered for the workshop On Writing next Tuesday at the institute svizzero, grazie mille!
Together we will explore writing in resonance with others.
We will be starting from your own singular practices, so I would like to ask the following:
Could you please bring a page of writing relevant and/or significant to your own practice to share with others?
It could be a text of yours, someone else's, a composition, a collage, a draft, a finished piece, a text that is currently at the centre of your interest, at the centre of your project, that you don't understand, that bothers you, that you find particularly interesting, that you can't let go of…
The only requirement is that it fits on one page and can be read by others.
Ideally it would be in English, but it might be nice to have some texts in other languages too - I guess Italian, German and French are among the languages most of us will have some familiarity with.
Don't obsess too much, let your intuition and desire guide you.
And remember, it's not an end point, rather a way to start.
Also: we will be writing by hand – so bring your favorite pen!
Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm looking forward to sharing words, thoughts and time with you.
Have a nice day,
Delphine
and in the following ways:
a. inviting texts from participants
b. texts selected in advance by facilitator
c. texts generated by participants
It is timely, then, to reconsider how and why we write.24
GETTING READY
Before starting the first step, participants are invited to set up their own writing environment, to find a place where they will feel comfortable writing on their own for about ten minutes – they can move a table near the window, face the wall, sit on the floor, on pillows, get some water or snacks...
They are also encouraged to write by hand and to gather the materials they need to do so – paper, notebook, pen...
Everyone can write in the language of their choice and, perhaps most importantly, the texts that will be written don't have to be shared.
Repetitions with variations
This first step can be repeated as often as you like with different variations: the texts can be exchanged between the participants, they can be put back in a bag or a box, or placed in a pile in the middle of the room from which everyone can take a new text...
Participants can also walk around the room instead of standing in a circle and read aloud to the person they meet. The texts can be read from the first line to the last, or navigated with a floating gaze, with fragments of the text being voiced when encountered...
Once the first movement of activating resonances is completed, you can turn to crystallizing resonances.
b. Texts selected in advance by facilitator
In this version, the texts are selected and prepared in advance by the facilitator. This is particularly appropriate if you intend to deepen resonances, and this is useful when time is limited and/or the number of participants exceeds 12 people.
This approach has proven fruitful with students in art school contexts, especially in introductory sessions or courses dedicated to specific topics. I select text passages on a given topic in advance and prepare them on cards to be distributed among the participants at the beginning of the session. I usually keep the passages short and favor statements in the first person singular or plural to enhance the liveliness of the voicing sequence.
The PDF document below contains the set of cards which constituted the starting point of a workshop held at the ELIA Biennal in November 2024.
B. Deepening resonances
In a closed setting, when the participants are involved in a shared practice, in a collective research, and/or in a specific course or programme, the selection of texts might focus on a theme, a topic, a particular issue, a specific question, or the texts might stem from the same source or discursive field.
The format will then allow to address the chosen topic and/or to deepen the issue at stake, to foster individual and collective reflection on the given question, or to engage in and/or advance on a shared research project...
2.1. Sharing in groups
Once the first movement of activating resonances has been completed, everyone is invited to meet with their neighbors in groups of three and share what they've experienced during this first phase.
The following questions can be addressed: how did you experience the voicing sequence? did you observe resonances that you would like to share? did the texts and/or their resonances affect your writing? to what extent? are there aspects of the writing process that were unexpected or new to you? which ones? Would you like to read parts or passages of the texts you've written along the way?
If there have been repetitions with variations: what has changed from one iteration to the next? in what sense and to what extent?
Each group decides how the exchange takes place - as a spontaneous conversation or according to certain rules, e.g. each person speaks for 4 minutes, the others listen and then everyone discusses after each person has spoken or when everyone has spoken.
2.2. Crystallize the sharing
Each group is invited to take time to crystallize what they've shared so as to share it further with the others.
They might note down keywords summarizing the content of the exchange, and/or compose a short text/poem in four lines from the textualities shared, and/or agree to improvise a short reenactement of key moments of their sharing...
writing is precisely working (in) the in-between, exploring the process of the same and of the other without which nothing can live (…) a multiple and inexhaustible course with millions of encounters and transformations of the same into the other and into the in-between...4
c. Texts generated by participants
The textualities can be generated by the participants for the specific context of the workshop, either in advance or, if time allows, during a first writing sequence on site.
The writing could be based on a prompt, a question, an incentive, the present situation, a sensing sequence, a bodywork exercise... depending on the setting, the context, and the intended purpose.
This approach is adequate both in an open setting and with a constituted group of participants working on a collective project, on a similar topic, or on a transversal issue. It can be implemented both in disciplinary and in transdisciplinary settings.
** One element to consider is the amount of text to be read aloud in the voicing sequence. In many cases I have had good experience of asking for one page of text - this allows for a variety of formats, such as collage, handwritten text, etc., in addition to a typed word document.
However, in one case with a large number of participants and a limited amount of time, one page seemed too long for the voicing sequence, especially as all the participants went on to read their text in full. It might have been more appropriate to ask for ten lines or a certain number of signs or characters - and/or to make it clear that no more than ten lines were to be read.
2.3. Share the crystallization
Each group takes turn to share their crystallization while the others listen.
Once all the groups have been listened to, we conclude with a round of reactions, questions, open conversation and/or discussion of the whole process.
* I have used and refined different versions of the format "Writing (in) resonances" in the following settings:
– one off 3-hours workshop with residents of the multidisciplinary residency FC BB initiated by Belluard Bollwerk and BadBonn in Düdingen (CH), September 2022.
– 1-hour workshop sequence during the introductory class of a writing lab held in the Master Transdisciplinary Studies in the Arts, Zurich University in the Arts.
– 1-hour workshop sequences during various courses held at Zurich University in the Arts.
– one off 2-hour workshop in the framework of the transdisciplinary event On Writing at istituto svizzero, Rome, November 2024
– one off 90 min. workshop at ELIA Biennal 2024, Arts Plural, held at NABA Nuova Academina delli Belle Arti, Milano, Rome, November 2024.
I would like to thank all the participants in the workshops for their commitment and valuable feedback.