Collective: Unconscious Archive
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Abstract
Founded in 1995, Collective: Unconscious (C:U) was an experimental theater group strongly committed to the neighborhood of Manhattan's Lower East Side and its developing artists. Collective: Unconscious members staged dozens of their own productions at the group's home on Ludlow Street (and later on Church Street) and rented space to many other performers. As leaders of other performance groups, Collective members also involved Collective: Unconscious in many of the downtown cultural festivals of the 1990s and early 2000s, including the New York International Fringe Festival and the Downtown Arts Festival. The materials in the collection document the production and promotion of performances staged and hosted by the Collective and contains exhaustive documentation of the group's administrative functions and financial difficulties.
Historical Note
Collective: Unconscious was founded in 1995 as a confederation of artists working in visual and performing arts. For most of its existence, the group was housed in a space at 145 Ludlow Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where it staged its own productions and provided rental space for performances by other emerging artists. Their "big in-house kickoff" in October 1995, Cucho Tailor, was designed to create a "collaborative performance environment". Other significant performances included American Slave Code (2000) by David Pilot and Al Ramos and Charlie Victor Romeo by Bob Berger, Patrick Daniels, and Irving Gregory, as well as several episodic serial plays, such as the 1996-1997 Manifestations and The Lung of Ling (years undocumented). Among the most well-known works mounted by outside artists were Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam and the Robert Beck Memorial Cinema.
In addition to being known for experimental work using a variety of genres and material, often in the service of humor or social critique, Collective: Unconscious also had a reputation for self-promoting and participating in the artistic community of the Lower East Side and downtown Manhattan through other group performances and festivals. Collective: Unconscious members were also the artistic directors of several ongoing performance groups, including the Play Practice workshop, Collective Unconscious Sub-Group Network 23, Collective Unconscious Sub-Group IFAM, and Tribeca Lab Theater. Collective: Unconscious artists participated in The New York International Fringe Festival and the Downtown Arts Festival. The Collective: Unconscious facility also hosted several festivals, including the New York Fringe Festival, the Downtown Arts Festival, and the New York Lower East Side Film Festival.
In 2005, because of increased rental costs, the group was forced to move into a space at 279 Church Street in Manhattan and in 2007-2008, Collective: Unconscious lost its lease and relinquished its rental space altogether. Though not currently active, the group maintains a presence online through their official web site, www.weird.org, which includes promotions for underground zero, an annual festival of experimental theater begun in 2007, to be held at P.S. 122 in the East Village. The archive reflects the group's commitment to a non-hierarchical operating structure—no record of staff titles or distinction between collective members and collective founders will be found. Periodical sources included in the collection mention Caterina Bartha and Daniel Green as being among the group's co-founders. Other members have included Julia Berger, Robert Berger, Audrey Crabtree, Patrick Daniels, Justin Davila, Gecko, Irving Gregory, Christiaan Koop, Scott Kravet, Jaimie Mereness, Al Ramos, Kelly Schornak, and Steve Zacks.
References:
1. Collective: Unconscious, company history and mission statement included in press kit, undated. 2. Collective: Unconscious web site, www.weird.org.
Arrangement
For the most part, materials are arranged chronologically. Undated materials may be found at the end of each Series or Subseries. Video and audio media have been divided into subseries to differentiate production recordings from commercial or other recordings. Each media element has been assigned a unique identification number and, for the most part, has been arranged alphabetically by production title.
The collection is arranged into seven series:
Series I: Production Files
Series II: Administrative Files
Series III: Photographic Material
Series IV: Realia
Series V: Video
Series VI: Audio
Series VII: Computer Disks
The Oversize section includes oversized material from: Series I, Subseries A, B; Series III; and Series IV.
Missing Title
- Series I: Production Files
- Series II: Administrative Files
- Series III: Photographic Material
- Series IV: Realia
- Series V: Video
- Series VI: Audio
- Series VII: Computer Disks
- Oversize
Scope and Content note
The Collective: Unconscious archive reflects the experimental theatre group's devotion to theatrical eccentricity, performative creativity, and the downtown Manhattan arts scene. Canvassing the time between the group's inception in 1995 and its subsequent closure in 2008, the archive covers fourteen years of Collective: Unconscious' activities within New York City's theatre movement and documents Collective: Unconscious' contributions to late 20th-century and early 21st-century Manhattan avant-gardism. These activities included the group's production of original in-house plays, its participation in various metropolitan cultural festivals, and its cross-promotion of downtown theatrical groups and events. The archives' contents range from financial documents and administrative papers to experimental stage props.
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Conditions Governing Access
Repository permission is required for access. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Collective: Unconscious Archive; MSS 225; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
Material within the Collective: Unconscious Archive was donated by the organization to the Fales Library in 2008.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact special.collections@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
