Inside Outside

Writing about their art practice and nature of collaboration in relation to the institution, Cornford & Cross questioned the privileging of the art object, and the role of artists primarily as being either to produce such objects for consumption, or to facilitate community involvement in urban regeneration. Cornford & Cross do produce objects, installations and images, and they do engage in a range of interactions with various organizations and groups. However, the distinguishing aspect of their practice is ‘Action Research’, a process of creative and critical collaboration which may transform social relations. In order to emphasise the differences in their opinion and the process of working through ideas, Cornford & Cross wrote the chapter as a dialogue in response to the editor’s original invitation and question.

Cornford & Cross were invited to give a presentation at an international conference titled Diffusion: Collaborative Practice in Contemporary Art, organised by John Roberts, Stephen Wright and Dominic Willsdon and held at Tate Modern on Saturday 25 October 2003. Cornford & Cross were subsequently invited to contribute a text for a special edition of ‘Third Text’ focused on collaboration, edited by John Roberts and Stephen Wright.

Cornford & Cross (Mathew Cornford & David Cross) have researched and worked in artistic collaboration since 1987.