C.CRED | Collective CREative Dissent

C.CRED worked almost exclusively with long-term, research based projects, structures and practices. For more information about specific initiatives, please visit the individual project websites listed below.

Permanent Ignition: Premised on the notion that in order to construct a critical and reflective space for contemporary forms of cultural and socio-political dissention one needs to seriously and continuously explore various historical formations of resistance and opposition in different fields, the Permanent Ignition project emerged as a platform for collaborative forms of research on specific historical manifestations of dissention, often including both reading and discussion based research, and conversations, dialogues, interviews and other forms of direct collaboration with people involved in or affected by the historical moments and processes engaged with. The earlier manifestations of the Permanent Ignition project include: Permanent Ignition: Turin, a collaboration with former activists involved in the radical left-wing movement in Turin in the 1960s and 70s, revisiting sites in the city associated with this period thus generating photo and text collages superimposing a plurality of narratives and perspectives on the movement and its history, collages that were later projected onto public buildings and sites around the city in conjunction to a public micro-conference and discussion; Permanent Ignition: Stuttgart-Stammheim, a project involving three trips through Germany, building up a photo and text archive contextualizing the alleged 1976-77 suicides of the core group of militant activists of the first generation of the Red Army Faction in the prison in Stuttgart-Stammheim, an archive that was later used for displays and presentations, and as a basis for a series of public discussions of the historical narratives implied and the way they have been commemorated; and Permanent Ignition: The Stasi Edits, exploring dissention within the framework of the former GDR and, in particular, the repressive control and surveillance system developed by the Stasi, including the phenomena of so called informal co-workers and conspiracy dwellings, through a series of recorded conversations with people taking different positions and adopting specific perspectives on the system as well as the meaning and form of dissentious practices, conversations that were then edited into a multi-layered and polymorphous sound-collage presented to the public in the form of an audio-installation, a small booklet and a public round-table symposium. VISIT THE PERMANENT IGNITION WEBSITE.

Counter.Cartographies: Counter.Cartographies is an overall framework linking several walking and mapping based projects initiated by the artist collective C.CRED [Collective CREative Dissent], often in collaboration with other groups, collectives and spaces. This site documents these various projects and archives some limited commentary and theoretical elaboration on issues raised and addressed at different stages of its development. It is not an exhaustive account, nor a final project output, but a very partial engagement with a working process and its development, an engagement we hope will continue to expand, creating spaces and sites for the further development of cartographical and peripatetic artistic practice. Some of the material on this site has been published elsewhere in different versions and edits. Please see the 'thanks' section of this site for an exhaustive list of publications linked to the Counter.Cartographies project. VISIT THE COUNTER.CARTOGRAPHIES ARCHIVE.

The alt.SPACE Network of Artist Research Groups: In face of the increasing commodification and capitalization of the knowledge and cultural industries, the alt.SPACE Network is an international, transdisciplinary formation of self-organized, non-institutional research groups with the collective aim of exploring cultural production through a variety of different media and through a range of contextual and theoretical approaches. It is our shared belief that in a time that stands witness to the increasing entrenchment and subsumption of research and criticality into the manufacturing processes of global, profit-driven corporate industries, self-organization and the non-totalizing, informal networking of micro-practices offer a site of resistance and dissent. VISIT THE alt.SPACE WEBLOG.

C . C R E D x \| x Collective CREative Dissent
What is C.CRED? C.CRED \| Collective CREative Dissent started out in the late 90s as an artistic collaboration and developed, in the early 00s, into an artist collective in the broader sense of the word. Based in London, UK, but operating largely as a nomadic and event-based platform for the development of critical forms of dialogue and conviviality, self-organized modes of collective learning, and collaborative forms of social and political research and intervention, the overriding concern of the collective was to foster links between art and aesthetic practices and the wider socio-political contexts in which they are situated. Since 2001 various people were involved with the collective in different capacities, some more permanently, others on a project by project basis. During 2007-2008 the core members of the group gradually got involved in other projects and so C.CRED currently remains largely inactive.
C.CRED Projects & Websites C.CRED worked almost exclusively with long-term, research based projects, structures and practices. For more information about specific initiatives, please visit the individual project websites listed below. Permanent Ignition: Premised on the notion that in order to construct a critical and reflective space for contemporary forms of cultural and socio-political dissention one needs to seriously and continuously explore various historical formations of resistance and opposition in different fields, the Permanent Ignition project emerged as a platform for collaborative forms of research on specific historical manifestations of dissention, often including both reading and discussion based research, and conversations, dialogues, interviews and other forms of direct collaboration with people involved in or affected by the historical moments and processes engaged with. The earlier manifestations of the Permanent Ignition project include: Permanent Ignition: Turin, a collaboration with former activists involved in the radical left-wing movement in Turin in the 1960s and 70s, revisiting sites in the city associated with this period thus generating photo and text collages superimposing a plurality of narratives and perspectives on the movement and its history, collages that were later projected onto public buildings and sites around the city in conjunction to a public micro-conference and discussion; Permanent Ignition: Stuttgart-Stammheim, a project involving three trips through Germany, building up a photo and text archive contextualizing the alleged 1976-77 suicides of the core group of militant activists of the first generation of the Red Army Faction in the prison in Stuttgart-Stammheim, an archive that was later used for displays and presentations, and as a basis for a series of public discussions of the historical narratives implied and the way they have been commemorated; and Permanent Ignition: The Stasi Edits, exploring dissention within the framework of the former GDR and, in particular, the repressive control and surveillance system developed by the Stasi, including the phenomena of so called informal co-workers and conspiracy dwellings, through a series of recorded conversations with people taking different positions and adopting specific perspectives on the system as well as the meaning and form of dissentious practices, conversations that were then edited into a multi-layered and polymorphous sound-collage presented to the public in the form of an audio-installation, a small booklet and a public round-table symposium. VISIT THE PERMANENT IGNITION WEBSITE. Counter.Cartographies: Counter.Cartographies is an overall framework linking several walking and mapping based projects initiated by the artist collective C.CRED [Collective CREative Dissent], often in collaboration with other groups, collectives and spaces. This site documents these various projects and archives some limited commentary and theoretical elaboration on issues raised and addressed at different stages of its development. It is not an exhaustive account, nor a final project output, but a very partial engagement with a working process and its development, an engagement we hope will continue to expand, creating spaces and sites for the further development of cartographical and peripatetic artistic practice. Some of the material on this site has been published elsewhere in different versions and edits. Please see the 'thanks' section of this site for an exhaustive list of publications linked to the Counter.Cartographies project. VISIT THE COUNTER.CARTOGRAPHIES ARCHIVE. The alt.SPACE Network of Artist Research Groups: In face of the increasing commodification and capitalization of the knowledge and cultural industries, the alt.SPACE Network is an international, transdisciplinary formation of self-organized, non-institutional research groups with the collective aim of exploring cultural production through a variety of different media and through a range of contextual and theoretical approaches. It is our shared belief that in a time that stands witness to the increasing entrenchment and subsumption of research and criticality into the manufacturing processes of global, profit-driven corporate industries, self-organization and the non-totalizing, informal networking of micro-practices offer a site of resistance and dissent. VISIT THE alt.SPACE WEBLOG.