- found imagery and selecting
- critical of subject of the work. how can it be critical, start of conversation. what I’m critical about in my work. how to make critical clear in your work. dialogue with u and viewer
- what is collage? assemblage of different forms to create a new. not about the medium but all those disparate forms and come together to make something new.
how online space influence our idea of collage.
history of collage:
introduced by Picasso (Man in Hat) 1912. draw paint over thick paper / cloth. it’s very surfaceness come into question. Art history texts believe this. different types of paper/ layering.
Kurt schwitters ‘opened by customs’ began making collages around 1919. found objects in everyday materials. created new forms out of remains of former culture. Created psychological space. his response to his environment. make sense of the world around him in a way. more emotional? more personal.
1947: joseph cornell (the hotel Eden) big collector. construct boxes and collages. earliest collage films. Rosa Hobart. removed all sections with her in it. becomes idea of obsession with female form. playing with idea of celebrity. essential thing with no context. ‘East of Eden’ heavy influence of surrealism in his work.
Hannah höch: fur ein fest, bits of fashion magazine illustrated journal, photographs, set her apart, she was the only woman to be part of the burning DADA group. Living with frustrating context. marginalised place with women. DA-DANDY . 1919 high contrast with glamourised woman and landscape. man is made up of woman body parts. made of woman bits.
Richard Hamilton 1950s British artist. ‘just what is it that makes today’s homes so different?’ 1956. the exhibition that was the genesis of pop art. first genuinely pop piece of work. male and female figure surrounded by carefully selected images. contemporary Adam and Eve? quite removed being black and white figures and colour background. commercialisation of our homes and therefore our lives. used a lot of images from American magazine. at the time, British and American culture.
Richard Hamilton invited to the BBC to use computers to make art. Quarrel paintbox. 1992. reflecting on 1990s instead of 1950s. role reversal (woman body builder, children stop sign, man on computer working) more enjoyment in older one? involvement of technology. use value now in working way. ideas of time. way he composes his images, tension and balance. war outside new window? satellite dish and mass of people. old collage: theatre and poster. the new one more upsetting? context and audience, what have they experienced. remember your own context when you look at work and the artist as well.
Wees: he sees collage as having the greatest potential to criticise , challenge...’
Comparing collage to different methodologies. helpful to think about categories.
compilation: documentary films (trying to present a version of reality.) (most used form of collage) (various bits of footage to give a truth the maker is tying to tell you.)
collage: image (most often used in avant grade film. what the image actually shows and the context.
appropriation (simulating a version of reality. not saying it’s the truth. perhaps a music video. Narrative in short amount of time.)
categories are not fixed, wary.
Atomic cafe 1982. beginnings of nuclear warfare. news clips / news films / television/ radio / etc. a lot of materials together to make this film. what was the function of the nuclear explosion? feel fiction or real? — real. sense of mocking / criticality to do with perspective of events. seems like an army film. islanders happy to leave ! etc. repeated catastrophic explosion. propaganda. criticality in relationship between this footage. the news reel and background information to the film. seems almost like a cartoon. very complex film. they are still trying to present a reality. it did happen within these contexts. drawing it together in a different way than original.
Michael Jackson ‘man in mirror 1987. Wees uses this as example of appropriation in his essay. quoting sth must be completely ripped out from context when u quote something. taking somebody’s thought and putting in your own context. quotations of history. Take a moment of history and using in own way.
nuclear explosion signifying change for the better. strange use of image. (timed with ‘change’) after that, people shaking hands, people saying yes. or the people having too much power and the people’s voices not being heard. michel Jackson as a celebrity. all of us have different perspectives on that. he is not saying that this is the factual event. not the sequence of events. No context what explosion it was. not explained like documentary. taken unquoted. in a new context. A cry for change. both communicated by the voice of the victor.
Bruce Conner, a movie 1958. draws from at least 4/5 different sources. example of collage. sex to talk about nuclear explosion or explosion to talk about sex? nature or film making. nature of looking. the most common image: people crashing. at play? doing something lighthearted, and explosion in middle of it as well. man sees through periscope and woman, explosion happens. music changed. jolly then somber. run through of culture. becomes humorous. riding on waves from explosion. ongoing disaster after disaster. not that funny when they keep on coming. the more you look at collage films, the more u can pick up on criticality. pointers.
compilation film : version of reality documentary
appropriation : placing images out of context
collage: is it presenting a truth? a recipe. adding in things together to present a political statement ? nature of humanity. brings together images in a fluid way. don’t have to be in a truthful context to present the truth.
each of the images in collage film brings with it a expectation of what it is used for originally. and brings with it criticism.
2015 Rachel rowes ? YouTube footage of hailstones on beach. overall film is about critical perspective on the environment. technique in one section, features this well known glass house and uses rotoscoping
image of man is the architect. video made of him showing people around in glasshouse back in eighties in VHS. inserted in high definition footage. refilmed . he becomes dispersed. time travel . old footage being out of sync. time and use older footage in new footage. ‘A minute Ago’ Rachel Rowes?
technology:
awareness of sense of showing. nature of making moving images
Bruce Conner-
Rachel rowes-
Hito steyerl: politics of the archive, translations in film. ‘Battle of neretva’ these films gone on a journey over time. kept in museum but no funding. transfer film on VHS. 35mm different aspect ratio. film cut off. each language has a completely different timing spread. none of them had full image. versions exist of the original.
Maya: ‘crowd’ 2012. interested in silent film scene. crowd critique of modernity. all scenes of great modern world. tragic things that happen to him. was a version on YouTube can see marks of uploading / compressed. looked on eBay, 35mm at the gallery she was commissioned. needed a special projector. lead into making this work. also installation of 3D printer seats small. in terms of collage what She did related a lot to Hito, 3D printed seats, include history of how she found images.
versioning: remaking of software. each time they update it, a new number. everyone made their own versions of meme. piece of found footage being reused.
ongoing project relating to image hierarchies. current modes of production related to digital making processes, they challenge image hierarchies, challenge original and true images in a serous way. collected memory. Cam versions. extends until dvd release.tourist photography. extended life of images especially online. Vimeo : Olive olarick?
copyright of images in collage: you have to have awareness of that. make work and think it out. copyright law. title work source. there is thievery. using found material.