I saw a lot of really interesting work in London in just a few days including an exhibition of the collaborative work of Arnulf Rainer and Dieter Roth. These two artists have been collaborating for over 20 years by drawing on each other's drawings, each responding to the other's marks with their own marks.
 

We usually have an image of the artist working on a solitary basis in their studio, especially when it comes to more traditional formats such as drawing and painting. We also see drawing and painting as being somewhat precious in that it gets framed and installed on a wall. You don't think of artists letting other artists draw or paint on their work after it is 'finished'. It is an eye-opener to think of Rainer and Roth working together and drawing on each other's work to create a conversation using the language of art. As viewer familiar with the work of both of these artists, it was interesting to pick out the individual set of marks made by Rainer and the ones made by Roth. Equally fascinating was how the drawings held together as unified compositions seemingly made by one person. The works highlighted ideas of authorship, as well as ideas around what makes a work complete.

Of particular interest was the way the gallery installed some double-sided drawings (see image below). Not only did this give you the opportunity to see two sides of each work but it also played on the idea of the double authorship. More information on Dieter Roth can be found on this fascinating interactive website created for his retrospective at MOMA. And examples of Rainer's work, who is known in particular for his frantic drawings marks on photographs, can be found here: Rainer.