Les Cocobopros
 cover image. Courtesy of the artist. Les CocoboprosCollaborative Collages by Lisa Chun, Gary Ortman, William Cody, Musta Fior, Flore Kunst, Francine Martin, and Rhed Fawell with Michael KoppaAccording to Michael Koppa, “‘Cocobopro’ is an acronymish word derived from an abbreviation of the phrase ‘collaborative collage book project’, of which there are five, initiated in 2015, with seven collaging colleagues in North America and Europe.” Each of the five, 36-page booklets in Les Cocobopros includes 20 collages (with the exception of No. 4, which includes 22), collaboratively created through six exchanges of a package of ten 2-sided cards through the postal service, over the course of a year or two. The artists were invited to add or subtract from the collages, and return them in a suggested sequence, as if the cards would become pages in a book.  Courtesy of the artist and Michael Koppa. These collaborations included no verbal or written communication. The artists were forced to relinquish control with each exchange, and respond to whatever came back from the hands and mind of another artist. The books are evidence of conversations with image selection, placement, and technique. Sans text, these books reveal the story of a creative process, and express ideas, emotions, and perspectives through the arrangement of cut and torn pieces of the printed ephemera we find in all corners of our lives. As collagists, we use printed (or not) found paper, and sometimes other media, to create subtly balanced compositions, expressing ourselves with apparent chaos. Or, perhaps, in the spirit of the Dadaists, we find beauty in the chaos resulting from random arrangements of the printed matter that clutters our world. Christopher Byrne wrote an article about Les Cocobopros in Kolaj 32. PURCHASE KOLAJ 32. The books are laser printed on acid-free, 70 lb Accent Text, in five 36-page books, measuring 7″x5″, pamphlet-stitched, with letterpress-printed Stonehenge jackets, in a one-of-a-kind collage-wrapped and letterpress printed archival slipcase. It was printed in a limited edition of 26 numbered copies and is priced at $350. Text adapted from Michael Koppa’s promotional materials. ABOUT THE BOOK Purchase the book from the publisher’s Etsy HERE. |