Pass N Play

We are thinking of some new experiments in collaborative play/creating to feature in the upcoming Regeneration 2021 gallery shows (Brew/Feast). These experiments are part of exploring the ripples our work creates throughout the work of the community and extending out through our individual nodes to the wider world.

First up: we are planning to compile a printed publication of some sort in conjunction with the launch of Feast in November of this year. As part of that publication, we are about to begin a pass-and-play game of collaborative artmaking.

Essentially, each collaborator begins one piece (within a set of parameters we will share with the group) then sends to the next person who adds on until a circuit is complete. We track the pieces along the way to see how they change over time and how pieces influence one another. We have worked it out (mostly) so that you can play digitally or on paper. Some pieces will be mailed and some will be emailed so distance is no obstacle. Contributions have to be visual but can be art or words, any marks that can be made on a page.

Twenty + two

1. We start June 15 and end Sept 15.
2. Each participant starts one piece based on the word you selected when you receive your envelope in the mail or your email inbox.
3. For the piece you start, your selected word is intended to at least guide you thematically in some way in the piece. 
4. Our artwork size is 7” x 7”.
5. For digital art, set up the file as 7” x 7”, 300dpi, RGB color space.
6. The art is made on only one side of the paper.
7. The other side of the paper can be used to write messages to the subsequent recipients, if you’d like.
8. These notes could become artwork themselves.
9. Any mark-making tool is encouraged
10. as is collage, needlework, torn up, reconstituted, poetry, story, anything you can get on paper, etc.
11. But please remember the artwork must travel through the mail.
12. For mailing analog pieces, we encourage you to reuse the original envelope. We do not discourage envelope art.
13. For sending digital pieces, flatten the image and save it as a jpg (this should create a file of 5MB or less).
14. Before sending artwork to the next person, please take a photo of the current version (with your phone or camera) or save digital files as a jpg. Name your image file: “WordOfThePieceYouAreWorkingOn_Yourfirstname” (ex: “Soil_jennifer”, “Soil_amanda”) and upload it to this Dropbox folder.
15. These in-process images might be used in Brew and/or Feast.
16. After you have uploaded your work to the Dropbox, send @gallery a private message to find out where to send each piece next.
17. Wait to get mail/email from the next person!
18. We suggest planning up to 1 hour of effort for each piece of art.
19. We’re hoping for a 3-day turnaround per piece. If it takes longer, that’s ok. The closer we can stick to the 3-day turnaround, the farther each piece can travel before the end.
20. For analog art, each piece will begin on mixed-media paper. If you are converting a digital file to analog, if possible please print it onto mixed-media paper.
21. If you alter an analog piece by cutting (for example), please include all bits that came in the envelope when you send it to the next person.
22. Let’s have fun!

Clarification: After you begin your first word you will send to the next recipient the piece that you have worked on. Not only the word, but the work you have made. This work that you have made will then be worked on by the next person. At the end, with luck, each word will have been worked on by every person and there will be one piece of art (one piece for each of the 18 words), touched by all, that reflects our combined group effort.

Some other clarifying points:

For the ‘digital only’ players:

• you will receive and pass all pieces in digital format.
• please upload to dropbox and pass your piece saved as a .jpg file
• when you pass digitally, in addition to the piece you have worked on please also include the attachments originally sent to you by Matthew (you do NOT need to pass the guidelines).

For the ‘flexible medium’ players (people starting on paper but able to work also in digital – those not listed above):

• If you receive paper, you work on the paper and snail mail it to the next person (this does not mean you can’t use digital elements in working with the paper)
• There will be occasional exceptions where you will work on paper but then need to convert the end piece to digital when the piece is ready to move to the digital players. We will let you know when this is the case.
• If you receive a digital image and are able to print it to mixed media paper, please do and then treat as a paper piece.
• If you receive digital and can’t print it to mixed media paper, or if you prefer to work on a particular piece digitally, you can pass digitally to the next person.
• When you pass through the mail, please include any paper that came in the envelope (and if you cut the piece you received in any way please include all resulting scraps). You do NOT need to pass the guidelines through the mail.