Collective Task, founded in 2006, is an international group of artists and poets with over 30 participants. Our premise is simple: on the first day of each month a selected member of the collective assigns a task for the other members to be completed within the month. These monthly responses appear ongoing on our website and at the end of a 12-month cycle, we have published these responses as a book or catalogue. The responses vary in medium (video, sound, text, image) and length.
Collective Task develops networking as an art practice. The process of mutual exchange through the internet is central to the collective project overall. The role of the single contributions is amplified by the guiding premise of art as a network. Recalling Mail Art‘s experiences, Collective Task similarly pursues a vernacular of everyday connectedness and dialogue among artists.
The first Collective Task volume was published in 2009. The second cycle of Collective Task (curated by Lanny Jordan Jackson) was completed in 2011 and was published in 2014.
In 2012 we performed at MoMA. We were awarded this honor through the Modern Poets Series, curated by Laura Beiles. Over 20 members of Collective Task performed (each for 3 minutes).
For our 3rd cycle, many of the same members have continued, and we invited several new members, including: Sam Winston (UK), Rodrigo Rey Rosa (Guatemala), Suzanne Treister (UK), Erica Baum, and Madeline Gins.
In June 2014, the collective performed at the Berlin Poetry Festival.
In 2016 a new catalogue was published. It represents our third printed collection and contains responses from both Cycles #3 and #4. Because we now have over 30 participants and this catalogue represents 2 years of responses, we have asked each artist/poet for only one artwork. It was curated by Laura Boggia and designed by Klaus Killisch.
In December 2016 Collective Task celebrated the 10th anniversary and the new catalogue with a series @ 67 Ludlow Gallery in New York.
title image: cycle 2 task 10, Lanny Jordan Jackson, Finger Geometry