ConSenses: a multimedia game of telephone in the hands of great artists

Art knows no bounds. Stirring the soul occurs via any or all of the five senses. With that in mind, the artists joined in Sally Taylor’s ConSenses project, ranging from Carly Simon, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett to Reggie Watts, Jennifer Nettles, John Forté and Carlos Lascano, plan to change the world by bringing their unique artistic interpretations into a unified collaboration later this year. In all, 130 artists from 23 countries collaborated in the ConSenses project.

Thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, the ConSenses project will culminate this summer in Martha’s Vineyard, celebrating an abundance of media including dance, music, painting, sculpture, film, food, perfume and poetry and most importantly, community.

Promoting equality of perception through collaboration

Like an intergenerational, multimedia game of telephone across geographies, Ms. Taylor’s vision was to ask artists to interpret images selected by her with their art. She began by presenting a photo of a particular aspect of her original theme to a musician to create a song. The song was then presented to a dancer, who interpreted it in their own medium. From there it went to a poet, a painter, a perfumer and finally, a sculptor. All of the senses were now represented.

Ms. Taylor’s inspiration for the ConSenses project originated in the fable of six blind men that come upon an elephant. Each man describes the part of the elephant he comes in contact with and believes he understands the true nature of the elephant from his own perception. It is only through collaboration that understanding of the real essence of the elephant can be found.

Artistically equivalent, aesthetically different

Taylor’s vision is to present the project in a way that will fully express and show the beauty, meaning and importance of this multicultural collaboration. ConSenses is right up WiseTribe’s alley. We really get into their five core principles:

• Promote equality of perception.
• Demystify elitism associated with art appreciation.
• Help artists grow their audiences.
• Support community.
• Globally inspire & harness creativity.

The ConSenses project would not succeed without its great artistic diversity of media, genre, age, culture and geography. The final project will reveal a telling glimpse into the artistic process across several media. Each artist was given seven days to complete their creation — not knowing from whom they would receive their creative baton upon hand-off, nor to whom their creation would go to next.

The final project will be a full sensory exhibit in Martha’s Vineyard (June 2014), where all 130 artists will be invited to meet for the first time. Additional plans for ConSenses include a documentary film which will capture the artist’s interactions, conversations and revelations at the exhibit as they see how their contributions make up the whole ConSenses project.

For more about the ConSenses project, check out the ConSenses Twitter feed and the ConSenses page on Sally Taylor’s website.

Miles Carroll and Julian Rogers

Read our blog for more on how WiseTribe supports and promotes the arts. Join us to contribute your ideas!

Miles Carroll is a psychology, music and life major based in Santa Barbara, California. Visit her on Facebook or at RootedGrass.com.

Julian Rogers is a writer, editor, community manager and marketing communications consultant for high-achieving businesses — from solo entrepreneurs to large private companies. As principal of Juju Eye Communications, his focus is on your results. Find out what he’s thinking about on his blog: mrturophile.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

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