In 2013, McCollum collaborated with the artist Andrea Zittel. The basis of the collaboration was his Plaster Surrogates series. McCollum and Zittel collated twenty-four Collections of Eight Plaster Surrogates, each unique, to paint them monochromatically, using colors chosen by Zittel. At the time, Zittel worked and lived in Joshua Tree, California, an environment that undoubtedly influenced these color selections.

The project marked a new foray into a communal artist practice where two artists and friends challenge the conceptions of mass production using hand-made objects and distinct aesthetic and organizational choices.