A Collaborative Canvas

On a tabletop, the group erected a city from Styrofoam and other low-tech materials. Structures run the gamut from shacks to high-rises, complete with a bomb shelter, billboards, water towers, construction barriers, and an outhouse. Because it's ingenious and charming, its childish look is forgivable. Some works exemplify young artists blowing off steam during the summer, while others achieve more formal integration, such as four tightly composed paintings by Jacin Giordano, Bhakti Baxter, and Gean Moreno. They swirl collaged textiles, impasto paint, and beads into intense little tableaux. Phoenicia and Upahar Neiburger toy with audio; on a wall a headset's repetitive track mutters a warning about will. To commemorate the occasion of "Co Operate," Neiburger produced and distributed a mix CD of music selected by each of the artists -- truly a utopia of democracy in action.

While many of the efforts generate a charmingly carefree ambience -- a refreshing alternative to slick presentations -- others are more inspired. An exceptional example is a video by TM Sisters (actual siblings) in which artists are depicted in pantomime throwing an invisible object back and forth. The sisters float this live-action footage onto a background patterned from pink and blue bricks and a morphing abstract shape that responds to the tossing motion of each person in the lineup. This piece uniquely documents a spirited gathering of artists. TM Sisters really mined the energy of the collective and retrofitted it with the large sketchy video pores reminiscent of Seventies children's television shows like Zoom and Sesame Street.

Aside from some very welcome humility, the overall byproduct of this experiment, this hive of cellular energy, is freedom, and that is an instructive reminder to makers and viewers of art everywhere.

Artists participating in "Co Operate" include Kevin Arrow, Daniel Arsham, Hernan Bas, Bhakti Baxter, Natalia Benedetti, John Bianchi, Robert Chambers, Westen Charles, Cooper, N.B. Dash, FeCuOp, Naomi Fisher, Paul Gaeta, Jacin Giordano, Gorilla Tactiks, Adler Guerrier, Jason Hedges, Jay Hines, Kathleen Hudspeth, Jiae Hwang, Ricky Rayns Jimenez, Nick D. Lobo, Beatriz Monteavaro, Gean Moreno, Victor Muñiz, Upahar Neiburger, Daniel Newman, Muriel Olivares, Martin Oppel, Dennis Palazzolo, Gavin Perry, Phoenicia, Ali Prosch, Tao Rey, Bert Rodriguez, Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, David Rohn, Tom Scicluna, TM Sisters, Kol Solthon, and Jen Stark.