Collage

Collage is an emerging genre whose works consist of a large compilation of other people’s work. It takes unresolved and unfinished thoughts, merging them into a whole.

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“Collage is pieces of other things. There edges don’t meet.” – Nina Michelson

Pablo Picasso's "Three Musicians".

Collage isn’t new. It’s not something we’re all unfamiliar with whether we created collage art ourselves in grade school or have seen the works of famous collage artists. Collage dates all the way back to 200 B.C. when paper was first invented in China. Calligraphers would combine paper with fabric to create a proper surface for their brushstrokes. Eventually, any and all materials were considered for collage pieces. In medieval times, craftsmen would combine “gemstones, elegant fibers, relics and precious metals” to create enhanced religious images. (“The Origins of Collage”)

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and George Braque (1882-1963) are two famous artists attributed with furthering collage art. They first adopted an “abstract geometric style later referred to as analytic cubism” and then in a bid to return some realism to their painting they began incorporating “such realistic materials into their work as sand, newspapers, and strin[g] [sic] and added texture in unorthodox ways by also including such items as hair, feathers, cloth, and even tickets and old matchbooks” (“Collage History”).

This was the birth of collage and only the beginning. Its evolution began with creating a proper brushstroke surface then to creating two-dimensional art and has moved on to three-dimensional projects, written narratives, and film (to name a few uses). Collage has also begun to incorporate pieces of pre-existing art (when allowed).

David Shields used collage in his text Reality Hunger as did Renata Adler in her novel Speedboat. There is plenty of collage art out there today, and collage is even being incorporated in a musical sense with sampling (where an artist incorporates portions of other songs into their own song to create something new or create a whole new song using only portions of other people’s songs) as with DJ Earworm’s “United State of Pop 2009” and even in films such as Joseph Cornell’s “Rose Hobart” (1936).

George Braque's "Le Jour".

Collage is a highly appreciated form today because it allows an artist the freedom of being able to use any medium to create something new.

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“Collage is a demonstration of the many becoming the one, with the one never fully resolved because of the many that continue to impinge upon it.”

Reality Hunger is a product of an emerging genre that can be recognized as a “collage.” What exactly can be classified as a collage? Pulled from David Shields book is a line (as seen above) that demonstrates the concept of this emerging and developing genre. With an ever-changing culture, society, and generation the genre (collage) also works to display how the evolutionary world is seen through the creator’s eyes by selectively choosing, carefully organizing, and merging the works of others to demonstrate their perspective. Collage strays away from older and long-established genres in the sense that it no longer follows the formulaic conventions of a genre. An author of a collage may piece together what they deem necessary to fulfill their objective. As seen in Reality Hunger, Shields exemplifies various literary works, music, and art from other authors/creators/artists to discuss and explore his observation of society’s hunger for the definition of reality, and what we can call fake, fiction, real, and non-fiction. The collage genre can exert an infinite amount of sources and arrange them in any way possible, which gives this emerging genre a level of creativity that many older and long-established genres do not have.

1. MUSIC

Sampling: “the technique of taking a section of existing, recorded sound and placing it within an ‘original’ composition.”

The growth and popularity of music as an artistic form of expression in our times today has become a product often subjected to the use of sampling, stealing or developing upon existing lyrics, and the sharing of style and sound. Many artists today have layered their finished work over others, creating a cohesive song merging the works of many sounds into the artists’ finished “one.” But this finished “one” never really gets to fulfill its intended purpose because there are other artists out there that continually seek interest in that particular sound and will “impinge” their music upon it. Tracks that are produced with the sampling technique are much too common in our time. We can see this in much of the mainstream music, some of which includes hip-hop/pop artist Flo Rida and his recent single “Good Feeling” and “Levels” produced by the electronic DJ, Avicii, where both sampled the original Etta James track titled, “Something’s Got a Hold on Me.” Flo Rida also samples Avicii’s beat as well. Take a listen to the songs below and notice the vocal sample taken from Etta James and the beat sample from “Levels” in Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling.”

Flo Rida (sample at 0:07; continued throughout):

Avicii (Sample @ 1:23):

Etta James:

Another example is Michael Jackson – Human Nature, SWV – Human Nature,  and Chris Brown – She Ain’t You.

2. ART

“A great painting comes together, just barely. A mosaic, made out of broken dishes, makes no attempt to hide the fact that it’s made out of broken dishes, in fact flaunts it … You don’t make art; you find it.”

What is art without inspiration? Surely artists draw ideas from others that have inspired them along the way, and in turn have been expressed through their very own artwork. Art is a form of self-expression and the artwork as a whole piece also incorporates many models, techniques, and styles of previous artistic creations. As Shields states, “You don’t make art; you find it.” Thus, artists continue to find various objects or subjects that relate to their vision and imagination. An artist may create his/her art piece by using what they see, hear, feel, touch, or taste around them, observations through their experiences in the world, or assembling and converging the concept of other works into theirs; however, using any of these aspects constitutes a collage: a compilation of the many into one.

Marsha Balian –

A photomontage containing a page of English writer, William Hazlitt’s “On Vulgarity and Affection” essay. Also, other various sources incorporated.

Jenny Honnert Abell

Jean-Michel Basquiat (Andy Warhol influence) –

JMB creates a mock Andy Warhol painting. The portrait of JMB resembles the style, techniques, and use of color that mirrors the work of Andy Warhol.

3. Film/Video

Collage in filmmaking and video is definitely not a new creation, but it serves as a creative outlet to express the filmmaker’s purpose and vision. It is however emerging in visual media. With today’s pop culture and technology it is becoming easier, popular, and more ok to juxtapose clips from different sources. We can see some of this, somewhat, in parody/comical television shows today such as South Park, Robot Chicken, or Family Guy. Although we can question whether or not these are actual works of collage, they display the popularity and concept of taking disparate sources and creating something for entertainment. Films that are created using collage sometimes try to express satire and comedy such as the 1982 Carl Reiner film, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.” This film was carefully and greatly organized by fusing more than a dozen old black and white movie clips together with original and more recent filming. Using collage in “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” was executed so well. The old detective movies and film noir of the 1940’s were collaborated with the newer filming to produce satire, to make fun of the old films. “Over the shoulder” shots were taken to make it seem like the dialogues of the old and new scenes are connected to each other. This collage proved to be successful in film. It is believable and creative.

In today’s time, there are more technological demands and we have responded to that by innovating new ways to communicate and express.  It has become so popular to mash up other people’s work and righteously call it one’s own, but the thing about today’s culture is that it is being celebrated and the majority of people aren’t aware that what they see or hear is a product containing the works of many. The collage genre is responding to the demands of our time in a sense that it is allowing people to stop and really recognize the works that have been created up to this point in time. We can already see how collage is taking on a huge form in art through music, television, film, and writing. The collage genre has reinforced our values today because it resembles the growing level of creativity and freedom that we have now. Our society and culture are changing; they are learning to become more open-minded and accepting than ever before. David Shields’, Reality Hunger, makes a point to show that now it is ok to blend together other people’s work. You might interpret Reality Hunger as a symbol to how the culture industry is now. The industry produces unoriginal work and many artists are being accused of taking from the original creators, which also brings up the copyright issue. The setback with society now, as Shields sees it, is the issue of accepting shared work; embraced by many, but also looked down upon. The emerging genre, collage, will continue to have to justify itself to be considered a true piece of work but in the end it is definitely a powerful and rising form of art and self-expression.