I wish more people had been able to come the talks that Dos Pestañeos and Skote gave at DCAC. I think these two groups really showed the two extremes that collectives go to. Dos Pestañeos showed us some very high quality intellectual/curatorial oriented group exhibitions, while Skote, (which started as much freer investigation of process and identity in a group of friends animating alter-egos, creating a product that was not originally meant for public consumption) is tentatively taking their provocative style of collectivized improvisation, ego investigation and nostalgia for naive TV public through DVD technology and the constructs of performance art. Still, both these groups - and in other collectives I've experienced, developing ideas about WHY the work was together even if the idea is fluid or generalized is tantamount.
A very important way in which these two collectives are similar is that neither shys away from entertainment and product, though certainly questioning this commodification is also part of the dialouge There are plenty of other art collective models that exist soley to question (maybe even undermine) the commodification of art. I would point out, that after going to both the Dos P's & Skote's talks that both groups stressed that making product happen (making catalogs or videos and treating your grant proposals like they were works of art in and of themselves) as a component of exhibiting - though it took crazy financial and work commitments, have to become a part of your repertoire as an artist. We might all know this already, but certainly Dos P's and Skotes frankness about having achieved and having to achieve these things collectively is a practicality to keep in mind as we move on.
Check Dos P's and Skote out at:
http://www.dospestaneos.com/
http://www.skoteshine.com/index.html
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