Michael (Russoff) and I have worked together since 1998. We started off as a team at Wieden & Kennedy in Amsterdam, then Wieden & Kennedy in London. We’ve found ways to work together on successive projects for Apple, Nike, eBay, Stitch Fix and too many more to mention.
He’s a brilliant thinker, talented writer, musician and emotionally smart. Together we occupy most of segments of this framework I created to understand collaboration. But there’s been two projects that we’ve worked on together that have helped me understand collaboration at a much deeper level.
A few years back Michael had asked me to design the covers for a series of songs he had written – I was really pleased with the outcome, so much so that I’d shared them with Stefan Sagmeister to publicly review. I’d espoused how I’d intended to communicate maximum meaning, minimum means. A clean expression of Michael’s intent, without me getting in the way. Stefan responded with a question proposing that the purpose of art was to be ‘in the way’ and to have a voice. His words stuck with me.
When Michael asked me to illustrate an essay he’s writing as part of becoming a mindfulness-based psychotherapist I wanted to use it to find a better way to actively collaborate.
The stories Michael told me about a different way of approaching psychotherapy provided the answer. As a therapist he is supervised and the therapist who supervises his supervisor also has a supervisor who holds the work of this supervising therapist and all the previous relationships. It is an endless ripple of collaboration.
But the project deadline couldn’t have been more difficult coinciding with three other active client projects. I had limited time, Michael and I are in two different countries with two unhelpful timezones and he’s in the middle of writing a paper which needed his full attention.
I’m proud of the images. Not because of their graphic or artistic prowess but because they were true collaborations in which I was present, at a time that it was impossible to be present. I see my hand and Michael’s hand, his thoughts, interpreted by me as a single outcome. And when we were lost, which we were many times, we spoke, we traded thoughts to get to an answer, we were patient, kind, thoughtful and understanding.
The images:
Mutual Grooming.
Horses groom mutually. In this image we capture the dance of this exchange Each is giving and receiving. Infinitely. There is a relational contentment.
Ancestral Spine.
This is an image of a continuous spine that reaches from one generation to the next.
RippleMandala.
At the centre is client and therapist. The client and therapist sit. Their chairs have roots that stretch deep into the earth below. This is a world of Nature. One ripple out, are all the people in their lives. Husbands wives children pets bosses the people they meet, live with, touch. One ripple out again are the ancestors. Grandparents, great grandparents, a whole congregation of previous generations stretching back hundreds of years. One ripple out again is a realm of atmosphere, innate qualities of life. These are Joy, Equanimity, Compassion, Loving Kindness.
Infinite Pyramid of Supervision.
The therapist is supervised. The therapist who supervises has a supervisor and his supervisor also has a supervisor who holds the work of this supervising therapist and all the previous relationships.
Collaborators
Michael & Marc
Images — found objects and clippings