Gathering Our Thoughts with Collective Comprehension

Gathering Our Thoughts with Collective Comprehension by Anna C.

What I love about Juxt is our ability not only to create visual images but then marry our images with stories, lessons, or emotions.

We bare our hearts daily to anyone willing to take a few moments to sit down with us. We shoot and we write, we share and we try to put into words the emotion that sits behind the lens. And I can tell you, as the emotional trainwreck that is me, it isn’t always easy to find that one elusive phrase that fits exactly. I write and shoot to loosen the knots, to shake free from the tension bound between my shoulders. What I am finding more and more is that even if I didn’t know it when I shot that building, barn, or forgotten item they all demostrate my state of being. A shot may be good composotionally but the narrative that accompanies it is what makes it great.

Enter Collective Comprehension @collectivecomprehension stage left. Collective Comprehension is the marriage of art and words that I mentioned earlier. A work is posted, choosen from the #collectivecomprehension gallery, and the all of IG is invited to write a caption. This caption can take any form, whether it be a story, a poem, or just a single thought. This growing community is bursting at the seams with creativity.

The brains behind the Collective Comprehension are Renee Mair (@this_cool_chick) and Danielle Maragos (@tickledpink509). When asked how CC got started Danielle explained,

Collective Comprehension was born by an idea and the combining of two creative souls, I handle daily postings that both Renee and I agree on, as well as our tumblr page which we just started forming our Wednesday Writers Q&A to get to know our writers better. Both Renee and I are kindred spirits and by uniting we’ve made this bigger than we ever imagined. CC is all about self expression and interpretation it’s lovely to see our loyal followers and their creative minds. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not in awe of the writing that goes on!! I will say that not only is Renee my partner but a true friend, we mesh well which has made the success of CC so positive. I’m just happy to be apart of something so extraordinary!!

Renee’s personal stream is a cacophony of color and form with a air of the fantastic. Renee describes her work as images that are shocking, extremely colorful sometimes sexy but hopefully – always thought provoking. Mixed throughout my work are cartoon pop art and vibrant images with a message.

Danielle is a self described painter and enjoys the freedom of creativity that mobile art affords her. Outside of Instagram I’m a avid painter and a huge fan of abstract painting, I’m no pro total armature but editing on IG has given me a outlet to express my love of abstract through technology. I also play the violin and I’m a huge fan of many French composers!

I asked the ladies about the process of Collective Comprehension and they explained the nuts and bolts to me.

One of us selects a pic from the #collectivecomprehension tag and then we post it (a new one daily). We then simply invite whoever is inspired to write anything that the image provokes in the comments section. We try to use all different types of images. We give one highlight and 3 honorable mentions daily.

I read through some of the comments and the creativity astounded me.

Edit by @vintagesoul81

Her screams teared at the glass. She writhed and scratched like a cat trapped in a hot house. It held. Her outburst literally scorched her wing tips. She slumped over, dejected, trapped to avoid filament. She focused on forming a storm of sand, swirling it into a fist. Somewhere outside a women cursed all jinns as an unexpected gust threatened to steal her scarf- too weak by @dezadie

Edit by @level80

Red soles/Empty souls/Fiercely walking on the edge of life/Both day and night to be precise/”Perfection” the dream destination/Nevermind my imperfections revealed in my reflections/a desperate need to be in season/Trust me I have many reasons/Vanity, popularity, sanity?/Since it’s up to me to define reality/I asked myself finally/Do I fail to save my sanity?/Or walk on for vanity insanity. By @thebeautyofwriting

The above posts are just a small taste of the beauty of Collective Comprehension. Artists coming together to share photographs and thoughts. If you would like to join in the experience please feel free to join in-the comments section is always open.

Below you will find more from the #collectivecomprehension gallery:[instapress tag=”collectivecomprehension” piccount=”20″ size=”90″ effect=”fancybox”]