Collective artistic journey: the case of Guapa magazine

Abstract

During covid-19 pandemic outbreak (2020-2022), people from different regions of Brazil gathered remotely to dialogue, reflect, and produce artist books for the online course “Dobras de si” (“folds of oneself”). Its first version was so stimulating that, even after the end of the classes, some of the students decided to continue together to research and produce artist books. Thus, Guapa group was born and, to maintain the vivacity of the creative production, the group founded an artist magazine with semesterly periodicity. In a friendly feast of ideas, the artists offer a productive collective dialogue that enhances individual perceptions. For the development of this article, we accessed documents about the manufacturing processes of the magazine pages that the artists share with the group. Therefore, we corroborate Salles’ assertion about the importance of contemplating the process as part of the work of art history, even if it is transitory. We also consulted other authors who develop studies about creative processes, such as Ostrower. The final discussion is about the result of a collective path that preserves individual artistic production, although above all the creative process carried out together and the dialogue taken over the group become fundamental for the realization of the magazine.