Postal Collage Project No. 4

More than eighty collaborators in thirteen countries built 85 collages over six months.

The Collages

EXHIBITIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION (July 31, 2014)

Assembled in working-groups of five members each, with each group arranged in a circular sequence, participants will send and receive works-in-progress, and contribute to that progress. Each participant will be the Principal Author of one collage, and a Contributing Author of four others.

The completed collages will be exhibited at three or more venues throughout Spring and Summer 2015.

PREPARATION

Before collage work begins, working-groups will be formed. Working-groups may be self-organized, or participants may be assigned to groups by the project coordinator. When a group has been assembled and members introduced to one another, a delivery pattern will be determined, and necessary mailing addresses will be exchanged. Then, collage work may begin.

THE PROCESS IN STAGES

STAGE ONE [INITIATION]

• Each participant will begin a collage, and will thereafter be called the Initiator of that work-in-progress. On a separate piece of paper, each Initiator will write their name, the date, and any expressive, strategic, or documentary information they wish to pass along.

FIRST PASS

• Each Initiator will deliver the new work-in-progress and the accompanying informational sheet to the group-member who follows them in the sequence. Thus, each will receive a work-in-progress and info sheet from the group-member who precedes them in the sequence.

STAGE TWO [CONTRIBUTION]

• Each participant will contribute to the collage they’ve received. They will add their name and the date to the accompanying informational sheet, along with any additional information they wish to include.

SECOND PASS

• Each participant will, like before, deliver the work-in-progress and info sheet to the next group-member.

STAGE THREE [CONTRIBUTION]

• See Stage Two

THIRD PASS

• See Second Pass

STAGE FOUR [CONTRIBUTION]


• See Stage Two

FOURTH PASS

• See Second Pass

STAGE FIVE [CONTRIBUTION]


• See Stage Two

FIFTH PASS

• See Second Pass. At this point when the work is delivered, each participant will receive back the collage they, themselves, initiated, now transformed by contributions of the group.

STAGE SIX [COMPLETION]

• Each participant will complete the piece they initiated, and thereafter be considered the principal author of that piece. Each principal author will send their completed collage to Berkeley for exhibition.

NOTES

COMMITMENT

Participation requires a modest, though not insignificant commitment. Please carefully consider the following, before starting:

• Participants can expect to spend a few dollars on postage each month for six months. International postage rates for parcels originating in the USA have increased, so that one can expect to pay a minimum of $12.75 per parcel. Only those who have volunteered to send internationally will be asked to do so.
• The project timeline must be respected. Consistent, dependable deliveries will be required in order to complete the delivery pattern 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.

LIMITATIONS: SIZE, WEIGHT, and MATERIALS

In order to keep postal costs down, dimensions are limited to 9X12″ (229 x 305 mm) or smaller, and the use of flat, lightweight materials, such as cardboard, paper, and fabric, is requested. Fold-outs and pop-ups are fine, as long as they fold/flatten down to 9X12″ or smaller, and are mailable in an envelope or shallow box.

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 encouraged to take documentary photographs and upload them to the Round Table [Collaboration] Network. At selected exhibitions, a slide-show featuring images of works-in-progress (and of mail boxes, post offices, and work spaces, etc) will accompany the completed collages.

Documentary accounts and descriptions enrich the project and are encouraged and appreciated. Selected accounts will accompany the completed collages at exhibitions.

COMMUNICATION

Over the course of several months, people’s schedules change, sometimes suddenly, and in unforeseen ways. Project participants are encouraged to use the Round Table [Collaboration] Network and/or email to keep one another apprised of progress and delays.

AUTHORSHIP

Each collaborator will be the principal author of one collage, and a contributing author of four others.

A contributing author, while making their contribution, has sole authority regarding aesthetic 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, while completing the collage they started, has sole authority regarding aesthetic development and completion of the piece.

OWNERSHIP

Each collage, upon completion, becomes the property of its Principal Author. Principal Authors agree to exhibit their collage as part of the complete project in at least three exhibitions (Spring and Summer 2015).

THE TIMELINE

• On September 1, collage work officially begins
• On or before September 15, first post sent
• By October 1, first post received
• On or before October 15, second post sent
• By November 1, second post received
• On or before November 15, third post sent
• By December 1, third post received
• On or before December 15, fourth post sent
• By January 1, fourth post received
• On or before January 15, fifth post sent
• By February 1, fifth post received (full circle)
• On or before February 15, collages are completed and sent to Berkeley for exhibition
• By March 1, finished collages arrived in Berkeley

INQUIRIES:

Marty McCutcheon, Project Coordinator
mm@martymccutcheon.com

MEMBERSHIP:

Round Table [Collaboration] Network
http://roundtablecollaboration.ning.com

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