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ted the results through the listserv. Over the first six performances, this ‘flat’ democratic method worked with no difficulties, as the members work under a consensual social contract. As mentioned earlier, credit and shared mythology is an important component of artistic production, especially when artists create derivative works from collaborations. How does one credit artists’ collaborations? In the case of Second Front, there are two important factors. All of the Second Front videos, graphics, etc. are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution licenses, for free use as long as proper credit is given. From this, individual artists are then free to create derivative works if they also credit the group, i.e., ‘Bibbe Hansen and Second Front’. This method, while different from ®TMark’s monolithic form of crediting, still distributes credit widely, as both the artist and collective are recognized. In many ways, Second Front acts as a catchment to which members contribute, share and then return the shared benefits to the collective.
Second Front: The Wheel with Spokes.
The Gears – Clevelander Z Clevelander-Z was an installation-based surveillance collective founded by ex-Clevelander Laura Rusnak at Bowling Green State University in 2005.18 C-Z (their nom de guerre) came together over common sensibilities regarding social justice and surveillance technologies. Unique about C-Z is the complimentary skills of its members. The group has a baseline of mutual competencies (Adobe Flash, electronics, familiarity with theory, conceptual sensibilities) and realized a neardovetailing of expertise (i.e. hardware vs. code, imaging vs. design) to create a highly efficient unit. Unlike groups with specialized participants that may or may not be able to perform installation duties, etc., the C-Z collaborative (as of 2007) meshed through a baseline of common knowledge. C-Z operates similarly to ®TMark regarding accreditation, except that it is not anonymous. The works that the participants attribute to C-Z are wholly collective in nature, making no distinction of roles. In many ways, this is another collective catchbasin, and C-Z considers this an effective and beneficial model. (Illustration: BOOKC_Z.png)
18. Clevelander-Z (L. Rusnak, et al), Voice of the Electric City installation, Cleveland Ingenuity Festival, Cleveland Ohio, USA, 2005.