Like any great artistic collaboration that stands the test of time, having the time and space to focus energies away from the day-to-day demands of everyday life is a key element to success, a point that Zac Culler, Ben Beres, and John Sutton seem to be proving.

The collaborative trio SuttonBeresCuller make installations that mix media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, and video. The three artists, now in their second residencies at The MacDowell Colony, have been making art together for nearly 14 years, and will present some of that art, discuss how their process works, and discuss current projects at MacDowell Downtown at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture as part of First Friday on Nov. 1.

The Seattle-based artists crossed the country for a residency to explore new artistic directions to be shown in December at Planthouse Gallery in New York. They will be using part of their time at MacDowell to complete some two- and three-dimensional pieces for that show, before leaving to install the work for a Dec. 11 opening.

During their first residency, in the winter of 2010, the three concentrated on two major installations. The first, “Wunderkammer,” was installed at the San Jose International Airport. Described as a cabinet of curiosities, the “Wunderkammer” is a large carved cabinet that extends above the display case surrounding it. Inside the cabinet’s partially open door is an intricate assemblage of components taken from up-cycled objects associated with the technologies used to transform the region from orchards and farmland into the hub of the high-tech industry. The interior pulses with light and takes on the effect of a carefully woven circuit board.

The second was a large-scale installation called “Panoptos” that featured works from Seattle’s Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington. The trio installed a custom-made camera on a track before three art-filled walls in a gallery room. Museum visitors in a separate room steered the camera remotely, selecting and zooming on details of works that were displayed on a screen.

“We’re also working on pieces for upcoming shows at Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle and Monique Meloche in Chicago,” says John Sutton. “This residency will help provide a clearer path of what it is we want to make.”

The three met as sculpture students at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and immediately saw the logic of collaborating on installations and large objects.

Collaborating was natural, “helping each other out and having a built-in critique network helps,” says Sutton.

“And three is probably a better number than two,” says Zac Culler. When questions come up as to which way to go artistically, “there are no impasses. In that way, it probably makes it easier.” One of those more recent artistic directions has been the SuttonBeresCuller bronze castings of everyday objects, such as mops, light bulbs, closed-circuit cameras, neon store signs and more. Hanging currently in their studio at MacDowell is a bronze reproduction of a disco’s mirror ball, which now must be polished to bring forth a mirror-like finish on the hundreds of squares on the ball.

And whose job is it to do that polishing? “John has to do all the polishing on the disco ball,” says Culler, with only the hint of a smile. “That’s because we won’t let Zac touch valuable objects,” retorts Sutton. Beres is staying out of this one.

“We’re just seeing more and more collaborations,” says Beres, explaining among artists it’s becoming a somewhat common practice. “There are lots of duos, too: husbands and wives, brothers.” Beres says that he and his creative mates have developed an easy compatibility when it comes to coming together on a project and then going home to separate lives after progress is made. “Having time apart is just as important as having time together,” he says.

“In any relationship you have your ups and downs,” says Sutton. “You have to work for it.”

In addition to completing work, and a fair amount of experimentation, the trio is hoping to leave the MacDowell Colony with the motivation for future endeavors. After all, they say, it happened the last time they were in town.

“We left with a lot of inspiration the last time,” Sutton says, explaining that their first residency was integral to their ability to develop and complete future projects while also helping them spin their creative process in new directions.

To find out about those new directions, hear about how they got together, and learn about their creative process, come down to Bass Hall at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture this Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Just hearing these three artists talk about their work is often as entertaining as the work itself.

MacDowell Downtown, a series of free presentations by MacDowell Colony artists, is presented the first Friday of each month from March to November. Doors open at 7 p.m. See www.macdowellcolony.