Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Collage Workshop

Posted: January 20, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

For our term 2 ‘Field’ projects, I chose ‘Beyond Fiction’ as my first project. This is a narrative based project using real found objects, articles etc and using them to create some kind of narrative within our work. I think this will be a good way to focus my work by connecting it with some kind of ‘story’. I have been collecting receipts, labels, and little objects over the last few days to take to this week’s ‘evidence’ session. 

Last Thursday, we had a collage workshop with James Green. The aim of the workshop was to use collage as a way to quickly get down ideas in a visual and interesting way. We were to create two A5 collages with a theme of ‘somewhere relevant to you – past and future’. This could be where you were brought up, where you went on holiday etc. I found that I didn’t feel especially inspired by anywhere that I could reflect well using collage, and so I started thinking about the world as a whole.

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The first collage is meant to reflect the world in its (sort of) current state; we still have outstanding natural beauty in the world, jungle, forests, beaches, even our own little back gardens. Whilst the second image predicts a macabre future of war, destruction, and life underground. I think the contrast of shiny glossy colour in the ‘present’ collage works well in contrast to the matte black and white prediction of the future.

I quite enjoyed the workshop, and James showed me hundreds of A5 collages he has created to help him quickly get down his ideas and allow them to progress from there. I liked the idea of creating a little collage every day, or at least doing a little sketch every day in order to keep my ideas flowing and possibly inspire myself with some quick doodles.

After the workshop, I found a simple piece of photo editing software built in to my phone. I started messing around with some of the effects on pictures of faces, and they turned into pieces with a very ‘collage’ feel to them that I thought I could print out and use in this week’s evidence session.

I particularly liked the last one, which had a very ‘Monty Python’ feel to it. I may experiment more with this little software program, and see what else I can come up with.

Term 1 Manifesto: Collage

Posted: January 20, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Subject | Leave a comment

At the end of the first term, we had to choose from a selection of ‘Manifesto’ projects, which lasted only a day. I chose collage as my Manifesto subject. We had to swap a piece of our work from the subject module we had been working on with somebody else, and create a collage interpretation of their work.

I started by swapping work with Emma Holt. I seemed to try and use collage to create the most realistic interpretation of her work as I could, rather than an inspired abstract piece.

I was quite pleased with how they turned out, but I find I do tend to get frustrated with collage after a few hours, and I don’t think my second piece (swapped with Elizabeth Dunhill) was as good as the first piece.

Based on Liz’s spray paint psychedelic inspired ‘face in the sky’, I created a collage version, using various blues, correction pen, and newspaper cuttings. I think this second piece could have gone better had I not run out of patience with collage. I really like the effects of collage, and I’d like to use it more in my work.