This week on DUOS! we have a mixed media master, Zach Collins, and his new book of collaborations with other mixed media/collage artists from around the world! Collins, was born in Grinnell, Iowa, but now resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After 5 years in the military he received his BA from Upper Iowa University, his MA from the University of Iowa, and his MFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His work is a mix of cardboard cutouts, construction paper, photography, old manuals, magazines, and anything else he can get his hands on, but the way he pieces together each work of art is unique to him alone. Based on what he calls “memories”, each piece reflects tragedy, humor, sex, culture, and everything between. Shown extensively both in the U.S. and internationally, Collins experiments with ironic and often unrecognizable imagery. His work is an investigation of the unexpected associations that are created by combining fragmented materials through collage.
Collins collaborative book entitled “We Said Hello and Shook Hands” is an astonishing 500 piece effort between himself and hundreds of other artists around the world between 2011 and 2014:
“Using the Internet as his primary vehicle of communication, Collins “said hello” to hundreds of artists around the world between 2011 and 2014 by sending them starter collages (and, later, finishing collages that others had started). The result, documented in this book, is a fresh and vital body of work that consists of over 500 artworks by Collins with over 100 collaborating artists. While the pieces reflect the individual dynamic of the personalities involved, that’s just the beginning-in the merging of styles and imperatives that happens during artistic collaboration among diverse individuals, exploration and experiment run unfettered and the whole that emerges is often greater than the sum of the parts. To push the boundaries of the collaborations, Collins made sure to include both cut-and-paste collagists and digital artists, sometimes sending out the same start to both types of artists, which resulted in surprising and intriguing interpretations. Artmaking on this scale does not happen without much passion and excitement, and Collins captures the feel of the interpersonal communications by documenting internet conversations that would otherwise have become ephemeral, preserving for posterity the human spirit that fueled this important and innovative project. (via Amazon)”
WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / TUMBLR / FLICKR / FACEBOOK
Collab w/ Trash Riot (started by ZC, finished digitally by TR) 2015
Collab w/ Christopher Alday (started by CA, finished by ZC) 2015
Collab w/ Brena C. ( started by ZC,finished by BC) 2015
Collab w/ Moan Lisa (started by ZC,finished digitally by ML) 2015
Collaboration w/Flore Kunst (starter by ZC, finished by FK) 2013
Collab w/ Denis Schäfer (started by ZC,finished by DS) 2015
Tanja Jeremić collab with Zach Collins (started by ZC,finished digitally by TJ)
Collab w/ Susan Ringler (started by ZC,finished by SR) 2015
Collab w/ Walter Paganuzzi (started by ZC,finished by WP) 2015
Tanja Jeremić collab with Zach Collins (started by ZC,finished digitally by TJ)
Collab w/ Nikki Soppelsa (started by NS,finished by ZC) 2015
Collab w/ Pablo E. Prendes by zach collins
Collab w/ Allan Bealy (started by AB,finished by ZC) 2015
Collab w/ Allan Bealy (started by AB, finished by ZC) 2015
