Collage Ensemble Inc. Collection

Collage Ensemble Inc. was an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, inter-ethnic, and collaborative arts collective. From 1984-2015 the collective, with over two hundred artist participants as of 2010, created original art works such as exhibitions, multimedia gallery installations, lectures, digital arts, poetry, performances, video screenings, and technology based work in genres that addressed the urban inter-ethnic experiences and diverse identities of its members, with a focus on urban culture and experimental arts. In a [mission] statement authored in 2001, Collage Ensemble Inc. describes that they "aim to transport the viewer to a place of social understanding and alternative views; and re-examines social norms such as assimilation, class segregation, and discrimination while reestablishing them through a collective human experience. The ensemble is open to all art media and combinations of media”. (“Statement”, Collage Ensemble Inc.; 2001)

Members have included: Brandy Maya Healy, Alan Nakagawa (co-founder), Enrique Gonzalez, Alessandra Lopez Moctezuma, Steve Irvin, Mona Kasra, Johnny Coleman, Steve Roden, Jeanne Nakano, Maruca Medina, Sara Jane Beckwith, Alex Alferov, Luchy Garcia, Landine Cespon, Reginald Zachary, and others.

Projects include: Body Seance (1993) is a performance work that uses spoken word, ambient sound, movement and circular saws. It deals with the concept of the connection of body and spirit within the context of the city of Los Angeles and its lost yet ever present soul: the desert. “Los Angeles Festival, Crossing LA”; Box 4, Folder 10

CAVE (Covenant House Art Video Exchange) (2001) whose objective is “to offer the students an array of experiences that examine the video medium as a form for creative expression” “Proposal for Covenant House, May 2, 2001”; Box 4, Folder 15

COCORO (1990) micro opera is a 45 minute multi-media performance. Part “Karaoke” part love story, part lecture. COCORO micro opera is a collection of 14 sound works for stage by composer Alan H. Nakagawa, Steve Roden, and Sato Tsuyoshi (of Japan’s experimental performance group Replicant). The story is interwoven with a lecture and film collages explaining a theory on why ghosts exist. “COCORO press release”; Box 4, Folder 21

Electronic Seance (1992, 1993, 1995) is a five part one hour audio soundscape that highlights the group's focus on empowerment through ethnic history with interdisciplinary performance. Artists created the work using found sounds, and will improvise over the recordings “in the spirit of a seance”. Memorandum regarding Replicant and Collage Performance August 13-15, 1993. Box 6, Folder 13; Electronic Seance Program; Box 4, Folder 31

Kodomo ("Child” in Japanese) Micro Operas (1988) consists of four short performance pieces consisting of dance, theater, animation, and video that stem from aspects of child development and that “the idea that most attitudes and directions of a person’s makeup have a lot to do with their individual upbringing and childhood”. Included in Kodomo Micro Operas are: Secular Micro Opera (learning from everyday experience), Out of Prayer Micro Opera (a child’s perception of religion), Learning Process Micro Opera (learning facts through science), and Storyteller Micro Opera (learning about yourself through your heritage). “Learning through 4 Operas”, Orange County Register; Box 5, Folder 4; “Development of the Micro Operas”; Box 5, Folder 2

LA Produce: A Two Flavor Portrait (1997) “commissioned by the Community Redevelopment Agency, City of LA, Collage Ensemble Inc. created a series celebrating the vibrancy of the LA Produce District resulting in: a documentary video, artist book, a two year residency at City Produce which resulted in the creation of Upstairs at the Market Gallery, coordination of the first exhibition at the gallery “Harvest Bunny” which was a multi-media performance inaugurating the opening of the gallery, a series of workshop for high school students at Angelus Plaza Senior Center via the HeArt Project and a presentation of the project to the Produce District community". “Collage Ensemble Inc. Narrative”; Box 5, Folder 10

Markets as Metaphor (2004) a limited edition artist book portraying grocery markets in the City of Los Angeles and the ideology behind the mapping of markets in our urban fabric.” “Markets as Metaphor, CAD Application FY03”; Box 5, Folder 19

Produce Art Center (PAC) (1996) mission is “to bridge art, education, and the topic of food production". PAC is an alternative art space in the Los Angeles produce districts managed by Collage Ensemble, Inc. and was created with goals "to offer the local elementary school students a range of performance based classes; to create a performance ensemble of interested students that can tour with Collage Ensemble Inc.; and to offer teachers a training program in interdisciplinary arts”. “Produce Art Center (PAC) Proposal; Box 6, Folder 19

Replicant/LACE performance (1993) In 1993, Replicant and Collage Ensemble Inc. joined together to present three evenings of ethnic and urban realizations through inter-disciplinary performances. The goals of this production is not only to shed light on current socio-ethnic experiences but to also present two groups who are from very different contemporary urban cities/countries. About Replicant: “Founded in 1988 by artistic director, Sato Tsuyoshi, Replicant has been producing and performing original multi-media state works for its local Osaka audience as well as in selected festivals in Kyoto and Nara.” Performance format: Body-Seance is a tone poem about the soul of our city, the desert. Gimmaku-Yugaku Replicant. “The Kaleidoscope in the Desert” multi-media performance work that illustrates the subtle and macabre visions of Replicant. In Be Tween Noise, a group lead by Steven Roden presents a performance that links the human condition with technology Memorandum regarding Replicant and Collage Performance August 13-15, 1993; Box 6, Folder 13; “Program” August 13-15, 1993; Box 7, Folder 2

Utopia Pop Pop (2003) Over the course of a few months, Collage Ensemble Inc. developed an evening of performances loosely under the guise of “utopia” with four LA based adult puppet theater groups. A panel discussion which was open to the public was produced at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center where artists discussed their work. The final performance was presented at a loft space in downtown LA and during one evening at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). “Four Puppet-Based Artist Groups present ‘Utopia Pop Pop’ at MOCA and Produce Department” [press release] Box 7, Folder 14; “Collage Ensemble Inc. Narrative”; Box 5, Folder 10

Sources: “Organizational Support Program 1999-2000 Guidelines and Application”, “Collage Ensemble Inc. Narrative”, “Soul Micro Opera: Los Angeles’ society is analyzed through a performance by the group Collage Ensemble, Inc. “ by Jorge Luis Berdeja, “El Universal”. All source material is located in the Collage Ensemble, Inc. Collection SPC.2020.021