Intentional Communities and Collectives

Utopian Communities

Communes and Collectives

A secondary aspect of research interest revolves around the history and practice of intentional communities and alternative modes of living and working such as in collectives and communes. In my youth, I was involved in several prominent communal living experiments, such as Black Bear Ranch in Northern California and Free Vermont communes in the State of Vermont. I have been asked to present experiences, thoughts and analyses on these alternative communities and have been writing them down for publication and presentations. I have also been writing about the importance of working collectively, and have recently published a chapter on the importance of video collectives in the general history of contemporary art movements in the book, entitled: Collectivism After Modernism, published by the University of Minnesota Press.

 

West of Eden Conference, UC Berkeley:

Presentation on communal legacy and experiences with Black Bear Ranch and Free Vermont

Communal Studies Association Conference, Marconi Center, Marshall, California:

Presention of a paper entitled "The Commune as Badlands, as Utopia, as Autonomous Zone" on experiences and analyses of living at Black Bear Ranch and moving through a series of communes and collectives in the early 1970s.

Here are some photos from the event at the Marconi Center in Marshall, CA.