COMMITMENT
Participation requires a modest, though not insignificant commitment. Please carefully consider the following, before committing:
• Participants can expect to spend a few dollars on postage each month for six months.
• The Schedule must be respected. Consistent, dependable deliveries will be required in order to complete the cycle and achieve the characteristic return of each piece to its originator.
• Each participant accepts responsibility for the completion of the piece they initiate, and agrees to deliver that piece for exhibition.
AUTHORSHIP, AUTONOMY
Each collaborator will be the Principal Author of one collage (the one they start & finish), and a Contributing Author of four others.
A Contributing Author, while making their contribution, has sole authority regarding development of the work-in-progress. When the contribution is made, and the work is passed along, that authority is relinquished to the next contributor.
A Principal Author, when starting a collage, and when completing the collage they started, has sole authority regarding development and completion of the piece.
CONSIDERATIONS of SIZE, WEIGHT, and MATERIALS
Larger, heavier, bulkier works-in-progress will cost more to deliver than smaller, lighter, flatter work. Consider the costs your fellow collaborators may incur. Also consider this: The creative autonomy to which every collaborator is entitled allows any current Contributor to turn a large, heavy, bulky work-in-progress into a smaller, lighter, and flatter one. Eventually, when completing one’s own original collage, considerations of passing on painful postal costs can be ditched.
Also consider your fellow collaborators when choosing materials, and avoid dangerous and commonly offensive objects and substances (sharp, explosive, toxic, noxious, or perishable).
In most cases, works-in-progress are delivered by public postal services, and therefore, materials must conform to the legal and policy requirements of those postal services.
DOCUMENTATION
Participants are strongly encouraged to take documentary photographs and videos, and send them to the Project Coordinator. At selected exhibitions, a slideshow/video will accompany the completed collages.
Collaborator accounts, descriptions, stories, and reflections enrich the project and are very much appreciated.
COMMUNICATION
Over the course of several months, people’s schedules change, sometimes suddenly, and in unforeseen ways. Project participants are encouraged to keep one another apprised of progress and delays.
OWNERSHIP
At the end of the exhibition season, ownership of each collage is determined by its Principal Author, according to a choice. One option: The Principal Author requests the return of their collage, and such arrangements are made. The other option: The collage is bequeathed to the Berkeley Commonplace Collaborative Collage Collection. This collection is catalogued and maintained for posterity, and selections are included in an ongoing, rotating exhibition. If, by the end of the calendar year, no arrangements for a collage’s return have been made, that collage becomes part of The Collection.