greetings

greetings to all freecooperators, makers of common goods, community organizations, cultural collectives, collaborative dissenters – self-organized or anti-organized

what is

this began as a material resource: a small library and set of activities, events; some research, some creative action, a lot of experimentation with group work. it then moved into facilitation, teaching practices, a more continuous art practice and a loose configuration of friends engaged in a variety of collective work. recently, it has become a simple blog for posting updates on a specific set of activist and artistic practices, and is currently focused on chicago. below, the original description from several years ago....

what is

common_places is a material resource and space for critical (self)reflection. it is dedicated to learning about, supporting and facilitating collective forms of critical practice. we are also putting together a small collection of primary materials generously contributed by numerous collectives, which we then travel to activate/share with others. we also develop provocations, invitations and circumstances for cooperative practice. common_places is not a group of artists or a project. 

and so

common_places seeks to facilitate a range of interpretive interventions around the study and practice of collectivity. we seek to connect with related initiatives to share information, resources, experience and energy

what actually happens?

our archive travels to spaces willing to host it and be open for public use. at each new location or venue, we do not limit the ways in which the archive, and the space temporarily housing it, may be used or may serve as resources (as production space, meeting room, rehearsal or staging area, napping, living and so forth). our provocations may take the form of extended workshops, exhibitions, seminars, events and non-events, urban research. to participate, practitioners respond to our invitation or simply self-appoint, defining their own role in the open infrastructure.

structure

developing a material resource is an interpretive act. our main principle regarding structure is that there is no single organizational logic for the resource. each time we pack/unpack and invite their use, the materials are grouped, arranged and categorized following different criteria. each new structuring of the collection determines a different way of reading it, allowing for physical proximities and informational cross-referencing to posit possible relationships between different collectives.

we need you!

if you are engaged in collective practice, we would love to hear from you!!! share your projects and/or your process, collaborative strategies, dreams, difficulties and so on. contact@commonplacesproject.org