Round Robin Round-up...please standby for creativity...

Group members:
Travis Clark
Spencer Coakwell
Michael Comp
Scott Cook
Clark Davis

Montages, as DJ Spooky states, are “a reflection on the different paths information takes as it moves from one culture to the next, one individual at a time.” Montages combine many ideas from a variety of sources in order to create a single new idea. As we collaborated on the Round Robin assignment, these montage-like stories challenged our individual creativity with each new story that came our way. This process led to the creation of something that was very different than any one of us could have individually created, demonstrating that frankenstein-like collaboration will often produce a collected body of work more beautiful than its individual parts.

Each group member came with their own ideas, cultures, and backstories that led to the unique creation of the next part of the story. This resulted in a heightened form of montage, as the combined efforts of separated minds artfully weaved the pieces together into a work that transcends the sum of its parts. A montage that comes from only one source would not contain these many “different paths”. While this wouldn’t be bad, the stories would still not have had the same impact and variety had they not been a montage pulled from multiple sources.

In this way, our creation resembles the recently popular Ice Bucket Challenge videos. Though the new creations that ice-bucketers contributed weren’t as subtle or drastic as our stories, they were additions to the global ice-bucket narrative. Every contributor had their own spin that story developed in the videos which is why we enjoy watching them. They were all the same, but different. 

Some say that there are no original ideas. The ideas that were spun from the each individual, whether original or not, lead to a unique and truly one-of-a-kind series of tales that would be near impossible to repeat by chance. One mark of a great story is its impossibility of being recreated while still creating a “why didn’t I think of that” feeling in the reader.

    This type of collaboration creates something unique in relation to other storytelling mediums with how it combined these ideas. Most stories can be controlled in content and progression but due to the nature of Round Robin, the story takes on a life of its own. No thought can be constructed to form a rigid path or definite boundary for our narratives. This pattern mirrors our society’s perception and transference of narrative.

    In our modern society, this medium (Exquisite Corpse) and narrative construction is becoming pervasive throughout our society. Many stories we “read” are created through constant browsing of  Facebook, Google, Netflix, and montages. As we download information into our consciousness, instantaneously creating new meaning with fragments of information pushed through the filters of our life's experiences, we ourselves are creating personal montages daily. As each of us seeks to create stories that are equally valuable to the many parts they are composed of, the original narratives are transformed and we leave our proverbial fingerprints over everything. 

Deep in the forest, a mother bear and her cubs were hungry. Having slept all day, none of them had eaten anything...if only they could find some fresh mean nearby.

The good fairy blessed them with long term intelligence to find the food they needed. Too bad it had to be those little boy scouts.