About Us

Re:collective is a DC-based, interdisciplinary group of visual artists and designers of diverse backgrounds who collaborate on experimental projects. Various topics are explored, including social communication, the dichotomy between language and meaning, and the relationship between the urban and suburban landscapes. The variety of techniques employed by the group produce a unique voice, which is not attributable to any one artist as individual. At the core of re:collective’s work, present in both its method and subject matter, are the innumerable interactions that take place within society and how those are exposed as uniquely human.

Re:collective has exhibited site-specific work at 123 Gallery (Fairfax,VA), Art and Design building at George Mason University (Fairfax, VA), Adam Lister Gallery, Fairfax, VA, and Artisphere in Arlington, VA. Artists in the collective have exhibited, designed and performed at The Center for Green Urbanism (DC), NYCAMS gallery (New York, NY), Vimeo Festival+ Awards (New York, NY), Artisphere (Arlington, VA), Carroll Square Gallery (Washington, DC), The World Bank (Washington, DC), Scuola Civica di Cinema (Milan, Italy) and The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Folkways, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Meetings at Killer E.S.P.

Re:collective can be found at Killer E.S.P. (espresso, sorbet, pie. We see what you did there.) Café in Old Town Alexandria. Warm atmosphere, pie, and art discussion - what's not to like? 

Though our show at Artisphere (photos & video soon!) recently ended, you can expect lots of exciting in re:collective's future, keep an eye out for us! 

Project 2012.002R | Artisphere

Group Photo from the interview space

Burnt Norton

Burnt Norton 

Installation 

School of Art and Design Building, George Mason University  | February-March, 2012

In the poem Burnt Norton, T.S. Eliot is aware of the instability of words and the fragility of human expression. He fears for mankind, his concerns especially reserved for city dwellers. Removed as they are from the majesty of nature and preoccupied with technology, he worries that even the Word (or Logos) is lost on them.

Using only the synonym function in Microsoft Word, each member of re:collective appropriates the same section of Burnt Norton as his or her own. The changes are made in a cumulative and sequential fashion, with each panel serving as a starting point for the next. The simple gesture of replacing words with random synonyms renders the passages unintelligible. Yet, as such they give Eliot’s concerns a voice other than his own.

Stripped of context, words become the sum of their physical shape; each panel presenting the viewer with a random visual interpretation of the piece by a member of the collective. While no sense can be made from reading the panels, together their fluctuating silhouettes question not only the instability of meaning but also originality, authorship, and the role of technology as the new purveyor of chance.