| Have you ever thought about living communally? Actually ditching your independent lifestyle as a sacrifice for the common good?
Well, that’s what Tim Bellivau, Ryan Marsh Fairweather and Phillip Bandura have done. The three recent Alberta College of Art and Design graduates who decided to calm post-graduation anxiety not by blowing their money on beer, but by blowing glass.
The three founded Mecha Studios, a six-person mixed-media collective that includes a painting studio and a professional glass "hot shop," built by the group in Bandura’s backyard, located in northwest Calgary. Mecha Studios produces a variety of individual and collaborative works in glass and other media, sold both locally and internationally. To make the venture feasible, the three traded in their independent mailing addresses, not to mention independent bank accounts, for a chance to make art production and business productivity a priority.
It’s a merger that seems right out of the liner notes for a Joni Mitchell album, but for these guys, a communal arrangement is not a hippie fantasy, but a unique lifestyle that offers many advantages. It’s handy when you’re trying to support yourself in the arts, so long as no one implements a clothing-optional rule at business meetings (could you pass the patchouli?).
For the three, communal lifestyle requires a few specific lifestyle changes. "We share almost everything," notes Bellivau. "When you're pushing yourself as hard as you can for a future in the arts, I think it helps to do this. Also, more people's parents can take us out for dinner!"
It’s not necessarily the consolidation of ma’s frozen turkey casserole that prompted the three to choose Mecha as their place of sleep and work. For Bellivau, Fairweather and Bandura, as well as the other members of the Mecha collective (artists Michelle Gee, Emily Shanks and Michael Lipsett), Mecha serves as a precious artistic habitat. The group meets twice a week to share ideas on their own artistic practices, as well as the business at large. "It's great having meetings to share our thoughts – an idea can be filtered through an additional five minds beyond your own, so it keeps getting refined," notes Fairweather.
The continuous dialogue between art, business and life also helps to make things more efficient. "Everyone has things they are better at, things they are not so good at, and when communally sharing everything, you kind of average it all out so you have more resources," says Bellivau. This consolidation of resources can also boil down to the particulars. "Emily will make Ryan some canvas stretchers, while Phil might help me out with some technical glass stuff," explains Gee.
Within any family, business or artistic collaboration, problems are bound to arise. Can you imagine having three new brothers who have 24-hour access to sharp materials? Fortunately, domestic disputes never boil down to air-borne crystal. "Phil, Tim and myself have lived and worked together in the same house for almost two years now, and we have never gotten into fisticuffs. Getting by financially is a little difficult, but we manage to get by one way or another," says Marsh.
Bellivau notes that the problems developed in Mecha are worth the grievance, especially when you are working towards what you love. "I think I will find difficulties in anything I do, but I actually enjoy the difficulties here – they're more interesting than the ones I get at other jobs." And they’ve discovered that problems often require simple solutions. "I think a lot of success in this comes from boring stuff, like buying a filing cabinet and using it," he adds.
Although a communal lifestyle may require a particular amount of receptivity to an unconventional daily life – "You never know where you will end up by evening," notes Marsh – it generally "keeps life exciting." |
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