Between May 2021 and August 2022 blimey! collective held a series of online and in person meetings in Darlington as creative research days. The starting point of our research revolved around the idea of collective practice, which we talked about together via Zoom and exchanges of letters; formats which allowed the project to take place despite Covid restrictions. 

On the screen and on the page we mulled over questions about the modes and mediums that equate to successful togetherness and collaboration, sharing food for thought about experiences including wild water swimming, drawing in the bath and the conceptual writing practice of women artists. In October 2021 an in person event was held between the artists, during which readings of the letters took place. These readings have been recorded and are presented here with the visual material created by members of the collective in response to each other’s letters.

As a conclusion to this project, which was funded by a Dover Prize Award in 2021, a skill sharing session took place in August 2022 with Bettie Hope from female led artist collective 'Let Us Eat Cake'. During the session we explored collective practice through making, using the letters described above and associated material to produce a series of collages, which also feature in the ‘Please Do Not Bend’ short video.