Collective is a multi-authored word composition created through word association shared by three Cambridge companies of The Wysing Corporate Collective: Price Baily (Chartered Accountants), Taylor Vinters (Solicitors) and La Playa (Insurance Brokers), who together collect contemporary art. Collective was conceived by Bettina Furnée as a shared month-long free association game, performed on whiteboards at the three companies’ offices in 2013. The work highlights the idea of collective language and shared thoughts.
Bettina Furnée produced a set of digital prints and an archive in book form, documenting the free association narrative that unfolded during the course of the performance. The first print Collective Group Together shows all words (in chronological order and colour-coded by origin) that were submitted two or more times each day per company, highlighting any shared or collective language. So the narrative starts off with: COLLECTIVE Group Together GROUP Together Art Group Team Hug People Team… before joyfully hurtling into SEX Hug Sex Dirty Please!! Bob-omb BOMB… and next WAR Huh! Peace Horse Lord Peace What is it good for? World Zone PEACE Dove Love Man!.. and to reflect Family Happiness Romance Family Heart Machine Shack… (etc) .
The second print Collective Love carries the initial word COLLECTIVE followed by the three words that were most unanimously chosen during the game: MUNCH HONEY LOVE.

Collective Archive, daily archive copied on coloured office paper, introduction and postscript, illustrated, hardback, 2013

Installation views, Offices of Price Bailey, Taylor Vinters and La Playa, Cambridge, 2013

Performance of word association game, Offices of Price Bailey, Taylor Vinters and La Playa, Cambridge 19 February- 18 March 2013
Word Association Game, 19 February – 18 March 2013
On Tuesday morning, 19 February, the initial word of the one-month long continuous word association game will be displayed at a suitable and eye-catching place in the offices of each of the participating companies.
Throughout the day, employees at Price Bailey, Taylor Vinters and La Playa will be invited to submit their response to the word on display, in the form of a SINGLE word or concept, by leaving a post-it note (or similar) at the display.
All responses to the initial word will be collected at the end of the day, and the single most frequently submitted word association will be returned to all offices to be displayed on the next morning, and so on.
The final word of the sequence will be returned for display on Monday 18 March; however this word will constitute the closing word of the game. Therefore final submissions will be collected on Friday 15 March.
All submissions and displayed words will be archived by date and origin. These data will form the source material for a graphic print by Bettina Furnée.
COLLECTIVE, archive on coloured office paper, edition of 4, 2013