Making a Collage | GDT Week 2 - Post 2

Following the creative exercises process to improve my abilities, this time I tried making a collage.

By Hannah Höch

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT COLLAGE

What is a collage?

A collage is a collection of various things. It's a visual art technique where you create a new image or composition by combining different elements in a juxtaposed or layered manner. Such elements can be photographs, illustrations, text, fabric, wood, and other materials.

The word collage comes from the French word “collér”, which means “to glue”.

How is a collage created?

The elements are typically cut or torn from various sources and then arranged and glued onto a surface (paper, canvas, or digital media) to form a unified and eye-catching artwork piece.

How and when did collage start?

It has been stated that in the 1100s, Japanese artists began to stick paper onto silk. Then in the 1400s, collage was first recorded in Europe.

We get a better notion of the use of collage when in the Modern Art Period, cubist artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque began sticking materials to canvases in the early 20th century.

The Dadaists and Surrealists also embraced collage art. Artists like Hannah Höch and Joseph Cornell adopted the technique, she created photomontages, and he created “dream-like” images before WWII.

In the mid-twentieth century, art collage was a major influence on the Pop Art Movement, great designers like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein popularized the technique.

There are several types of collages

• Photomontage: cutting and gluing different photographs to create a new image.
• Papier collé: cutting and pasting printed or decorated paper to a canvas.
• Fabric collage: using scraps of fabrics, buttons, ribbons, wool fibers, glue, hand stitches, or sewing machine stitches, etc.
• 3D collage: layering materials, something on top of something else to create relief.
• Mosaics: using stones, pebbles, marbles, tiles, and more.
• Découpage: using flat material (paper, wrapping paper, linoleum...) and gluing it to an object, e.g., on a telephone.

Why is collage important?

• It provides creative expression because it allows the artist to express emotions in a unique way and encourages them to be more creative.
• It allows an artist to explore diverse social and cultural perspectives.
• It promotes the repurposing of materials. It's an ecological technique.
• It can be therapeutic for some artists.
• It's an easy tool for education.
• You take elements from their original context, and place them in a new and different, creating visually appealing artwork that can easily tell a story or convey a message.

MY COLLAGE

This time I wanted to create a simple collage, a paper collage. I chose some kids' books, scissors, and glue. I started looking for elements that I liked, and after cutting, I placed everything on some colored paper and tried arranging things in different ways, after choosing where I wanted every element, I began to glue everything together, and it resulted in "a normal day at the park”.

You can see some animals keeping a girl company, a beautiful shiny sun, and a plane entering a space portal. Also, I added a phrase to give myself some encouragement...

This exercise is always so pleasant to do. Collage is such a versatile form of art. It gives a sense of freedom. The artists of today create collages the traditional way but with digital software too.

Will you try it sometime? What would you like to create?