Workingman Collective
Encyclopedia
Workingman Collective is a collaborative group of artists and other professionals whose membership, goals and missions change with each project. Workingman Collective is interested in process, invention, chance, and the public.
Workingman Collective is based in the Washington, DC area and has created public installations
and projects in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New York City, and Haiti
.
In 2006 Workingman Collective created "Five Mile Line" a temporary, performance/site responsive public work consisting of a five-mile long chalk line draw through the city of Butte, Montana
.
In 2008 Workingman Collective in partnership with the Shenandoah and Potomac Garden Railway Club presented "Synchrony," at the Delaplaine Visual Art Center, Fredrick, MD.
In response to a series of meetings with people from Tenants and Workers United, a prototype for a mobile community center was built as the project "Building a Mobile Community Center, 2009" in Falls Church, VA in collaboration with representatives of the Day Workers of Culmore in Falls Church, The Working Man Collective, and the Floating Lab Collective.
In 2011 Workingman Collective exhibited "Prospects and Provisions" at Hemphill Fine Arts
, Washington DC. The exhibition installation included an original backpack designed and patented by Trapper Lloyd F. Nelson in 1924 (U.S. patent #1,505,661). The backpack served as the launching point for Workingman Collective’s creation of a variety of provisions for the modern adventurer, including seven custom designed backpacks based on the original Trapper Nelson patent. The exhibition also included "Swing", a steel swing w/wooden bench covered with a selection of plants from Environmental Scientist Bill Woverton's study on plants that clean the air of Volatile Organic Compounds (V.O.C.'s), and "Table, a custom work table and seating with a G scale
train traveling on an overhead elevated oval track. In addition to the objects in the exhibition there were weekly "lunch" at the "Table" discussions open to and engaging with the public.
2011, February and July, Workingman Collective worked in Haiti with the International Center for Disaster Resilience. Workingman Collective worked directly in orphanages building tables and chalkboard walls to operate as social spaces for communication and interaction, and also met with Haitian artists to consider options for creative treatments and artwork potential at the National Sports Center located in Port-au-Prince, Croix des Bouquets.
Workingman Collective is based in the Washington, DC area and has created public installations
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
and projects in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New York City, and Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
.
In 2006 Workingman Collective created "Five Mile Line" a temporary, performance/site responsive public work consisting of a five-mile long chalk line draw through the city of Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
.
In 2008 Workingman Collective in partnership with the Shenandoah and Potomac Garden Railway Club presented "Synchrony," at the Delaplaine Visual Art Center, Fredrick, MD.
In response to a series of meetings with people from Tenants and Workers United, a prototype for a mobile community center was built as the project "Building a Mobile Community Center, 2009" in Falls Church, VA in collaboration with representatives of the Day Workers of Culmore in Falls Church, The Working Man Collective, and the Floating Lab Collective.
In 2011 Workingman Collective exhibited "Prospects and Provisions" at Hemphill Fine Arts
Hemphill Fine Arts
Hemphill Fine Arts is an art gallery in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Hemphill in 1993, the gallery quickly assumed an important role in the contemporary art scene of Washington, D.C...
, Washington DC. The exhibition installation included an original backpack designed and patented by Trapper Lloyd F. Nelson in 1924 (U.S. patent #1,505,661). The backpack served as the launching point for Workingman Collective’s creation of a variety of provisions for the modern adventurer, including seven custom designed backpacks based on the original Trapper Nelson patent. The exhibition also included "Swing", a steel swing w/wooden bench covered with a selection of plants from Environmental Scientist Bill Woverton's study on plants that clean the air of Volatile Organic Compounds (V.O.C.'s), and "Table, a custom work table and seating with a G scale
G scale
G scale is a scale for model railways, and because of its size and durability, G scale is often used outdoors. Such installations are known as garden railways.-LGB:...
train traveling on an overhead elevated oval track. In addition to the objects in the exhibition there were weekly "lunch" at the "Table" discussions open to and engaging with the public.
2011, February and July, Workingman Collective worked in Haiti with the International Center for Disaster Resilience. Workingman Collective worked directly in orphanages building tables and chalkboard walls to operate as social spaces for communication and interaction, and also met with Haitian artists to consider options for creative treatments and artwork potential at the National Sports Center located in Port-au-Prince, Croix des Bouquets.