Colab

Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists’ group Collaborative Projects Inc. Colab formed as a collective in 1977 after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines, first taking the name Green Corporation. The group initially received an NEA Workshop Grant through Center for New Art Activities, Inc., a small non-profit formed in 1974. The grant was divided equally among the artists in groups of three, two of whom were required to be Colab members.

In 1978, Collaborative Projects was incorporated as a not-for-profit and later received its tax-exempt status allowing it to apply for grants from the NEA and other sources independently. Colab was active for about 10 years becoming distinguished by it’s politically engaged open membership and the raw energy of it’s members. By finding creative means of sourcing their own funding, Colab controlled its own exhibitions and cable TV shows, bypassing the larger more established venues.

From November 1978 various artist members organized and installed one-off group shows in their own studios or other temporary sites, such as: The Batman Show (591 Broadway 1979), Income and Wealth Show (5 Bleecker Store 1979), Doctors & Dentists Show (591 Broadway 1979), The Manifesto Show (5 Bleecker Store 1979), The Dog Show (591 Broadway 1979), Just Another Asshole Show (5 Bleecker Store), The Real Estate Show (Delancey Street, Jan. 1980), Exhibit A (93 Grand Street, 1979) and notably, The Times Square Show (201 W 41st, June 1980) [1], a large open exhibition near the epicenter of New York’s entertainment and pornography district, produced in collaboration with Bronx-based Fashion Moda. Seed money from the first workshop grant through Center for New Art Inc. funded New Cinema, a screening room on St. Mark’s Place for narrative Super 8 films transferred to video and projected on an Advent screen, and led to the creation of Colab artists’ TV series on Manhattan Cable (1978–1984); “All Color News,” “Potato Wolf” and “Red Curtain”. Additionally the grant funded the continued publication of X Motion Picture Magazine (1979), the ABC No Rio Cultural Center (1980-82, ongoing) a public creative space born from The Real Estate Show, as well as Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine (1984) [2], NightShift Theater (1979), Spanner Magazine (3 issues, 1979), MWF Video Club (established in 1986) and Bomb Magazine (1981).

While the membership has shifted and evolved over time, members of the original group remain active art producers. (2022)

Publications, sources

• The Real Estate Show in the press

• Lucy Lippard, "Real Estate and Real Art a la Fashion Moda", Seven Days, Apr 1980.

• Lehmann Weichselbaum, "The Real Estate Show", East Village Eye, 1980. [3]

• Elisabeth Lebovici, L’Argent dans le discours des artistes américains, 1980-1981, Paris: Université Paris-X, 1983. PhD thesis. (French)
  • "To Expose, to Show, to Demonstrate, to Inform, to Offer", trans. Naomi Vogt, OAR: The Oxford Artistic and Practice Based Research Platform 4, 2021.

• Julie Ault (ed.), Alternative Art, New York, 1965-1985: a Cultural Politics Book for the Social Text Collective, University of Minnesota Press, with New York: Drawing Center, 2002, p 217. Publisher. TOC.

• Marvin J. Taylor (ed.), The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984, forew. Lynn Gumpert, Princeton University Press, and New York: Grey Art Gallery and Fales Library, New York University, 2006. Introduction. Exh. catalogue. Publisher. [4]

• David E. Little, "Colab Takes a Piece, History Takes It Back: Collectivity and New York Alternative Spaces", Art Journal 66(1): "Alternative Modes of Distribution", Spring 2007, pp 60–74, HTML. [5] [6]

• Marc Masters, with Weasel Walter, No Wave, London: Black Dog, 2007, p 141.

• Marc H. Miller, "Collaborative Projects Inc. (Colab)", in Miller, 98 BOWERY: 1969 - 89: view from the top floor, 2009 ff. Exhibition (2019).

• The Times Square Show Revisited, New York: The Hunter College Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, 2012. Exh. website.

• XFR STN, New York: New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2013, 8 pp, IA. Exh. catalogue. With essays and contributions by Liza Bear, Johanna Burton, Andrea Callard, Michael Carter, COLAB, Mitch Corber, Coleen Fitzgibbon, Walter Forsberg, Ilona Granet, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Mary McFerran, Sherry Miller-Hocking, Terry Mohre, Alan W. Moore, Joseph Nechvatal, Benjamin Olin, Pam Payne, Cara Perlman, Lisa Phillips, Walter Robinson, Philip Sanders & Joanna Dawe, Franz Vila, Nick Zedd, and Neil Zusman.

• House Magic Review 6: "The Real Estate Show Revisited", ed. Alan W. Moore, New York: House Magic, 2014, 40 pp. Exh. booklet. [7] [8]

• Becky Howland, in conversation with Jane Dickson and Coleen Fitzgibbon, hosted by Jeannie Hopper, "Colab, The Real Estate Show, and ABC No Rio: A History", Clocktower Radio, 5 May 2014.

• Natasha Kurchanova, "Lower East Side: The Real Estate Show Redux", Studio International, 12 May 2014.

• Francesco Spampinato, "Colab Again: The Real Estate Show and The Times Square Show Revisited", Stedelijk Studies 2, Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 2015. [9]

• Stephen Zacks, "Where Can We Be? The Occupation of 123 Delancey Street", Places, Aug 2015.

• Max Schumann (ed.), A Book about Colab (and Related Activities), forew. & afterw. Walter Robinson, New York: Printed Matter, 2016, 256 pp. Publisher.

• Alhena Katsof, "Collaborative Projects Inc. (Colab), Times Square Show, 1980", in The Artist as Curator: An Anthology, ed. Elena Filipovic, Milan: Mousse Publishing, and London: Koenig Books, 2017, pp 139-158. Introduction. Publisher. [10] [11]

Video

• Colab 78-80, 1978-1980, 26:42

• Colab Tv, video channel, Youtube

• MWF Video Club: Video channel on Internet Archive, Online catalogue, Wiki page, Description of collection,History.

• Colab TV: Excerpts from Potato Wolf, M/W/F Club, XFR STN at the New Museum. A 2-disc NTSC DVD of Colab TV Excerpts. Digitized and selected by Andrea Callard & Coleen Fitzgibbon. [12]

See also

• ABC No Rio

Links

• Website

• Time Square Show Revisited, 2012

• Collaborative Projects, Inc. (aka Colab) Archives (approximately 1977-1986) (archived)