We Said Hello and Shook Hands

We Said Hello and Shook Hands

by Zach Collins with 140 Collaborators

We Said Hello and Shook Hands is not only about the art of collage, but about the art of collage collaboration. Using the Internet as his primary vehicle of communication, Zach 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 140 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 starter to both types of artists, which resulted in surprising and intriguing interpretations. Artmaking on this scale does not happen without tremendous 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.

In Kolaj #16 and #17, Zach Collins talked about how he became a collaborator and gave some advice for collaboration.

Collins wrote:

“In collage, we acknowledge our influence, and understand that the new comes from the past. This idea of reinvention and recycling to create new meaning is central to the creative process. I believe that this is how culture evolves everywhere towards a positive benefit; old ideas are renewed through the filter of new thinking. Collage is the perfect medium for collaboration.”

See more of “How I Became a Collaborator and see more of “Advice for Collaborating”.

PURCHASE KOLAJ #16 and #17

ABOUT THE BOOK
We Said Hello and Shook Hands
by Zach Collins and 140 Collaborators
edited by Laura Tringali Holmes
10″x8″, 270 pages
paperback
ISBN: 978-0-692-38282-0
$42.00 US
Zach Collins, 2015

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