Contemporary Collage Week 10: Text Collage: Write

Over a week now since the final Contemporary Collage class  at City Lit  and the subject  was text, word and image , looking at typographical arrangements of words; cutting, deleting and reorganising; changing meaning through cut and paste and juxtaposition   

As usual  we  were  shown a dizzying number of artists  who have used text in different ways ( some examples below) 

Bob and Roberta Smith ( at Folkestone Triennial) 

Grayson Perry 

' Bank' with faux artists statements 

Jeremy Deller with  mind maps  

Christopher  Wool ( large stencilled letters) 

Harland Miller 

Cy Twombly 

Simon Evans ( Post Its)

Ed Ruscha 

Cerith Wyn Evans ( the chandelier flashes Morse Code messages) 

In preparation we were asked to bring in  a range of text and fonts  that we could cut up to create new images and meanings.

For the excellent paper lamination course  with Sarah Welsby at Art Van Go several years ago , I started  cutting out  headlines  in different fonts and colours ( unfinished sample above) . So I already had a stash of these to compose a quick 'poem' ( of sorts)  on  section of gessoed newspaper collage ( of which I also have a stash after Contemporary Painting Studio )!  I then did a tracing of the lettering ( below) 

More bizarrely, I also found a collection of the word 'Slough' cut from  local newspapers in 2011. In the early planning of my piece based on the 'Taplow Vase'  for Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles exhibition in Slough Museum , I had ideas about using paper lamination before using  'secret books' of cotton organza.  All  words used up now!  

 I then had fun matching headlines with photos from magazines.

Mostly though I had great fun with yet another find from the Fleur Bookshop in Faversham - in this case a 'News of the World' Almanac from 1953  stuffed full of hints on  street parties ( including graphic illustrations of how to bone a chicken)   and routes of the procession for the Coronation.  Best of all were the adverts  ( Simon copied and enlarged several pages for me) . 

My favourite ( above and at the top) combined an advert for cold remedies with an illustration from the Guardian from 2011 on 'Wiki Leaks', including redactions. Just goes to show , shouldn't throw anything out! 

At the end of the day we completed evaluation forms and learning agreements and had a quick look at  each others (hugely diverse) work. 

I don't know yet how much of  what we covered I will take forward and incorporate in my artistic practice  but overall I  had a terrific, exciting, time with a  generous charismatic teacher,   exploring possibilities, being introduced to the work of over a hundred contemporary artists and encouraged to experiment without the pressure of producing a 'great  work of art' .   A 5 star course. 

Contemporary Collage Week 7 : 'Pop Collage' ( and transfer techniques)

I missed last weeks class on 'Assemblage'  as I was in Rydal but  had sort of incorporated elements of that in my box constructions of the  week before. This week we were told to bring in an  A3 photograph  to cut up and recompose as a suitable under painting  and a song lyric or title. I spent Sunday afternoon on my return looking for suitable images and choosing  a song ( ' The Tide is High ( and I'm holding on' ) by Debbie Harry, one of the 80's soundtrack I pedal to on the excercise bike) ! I toyed with ' Startrekking' ....  In the end I needn't have bothered , what was needed was  any collage suitable for taking further using drawing, paint and transfer techniques . I had my ' Scrap' book with me  so Simon  photocopied pages from this up to A3 size 

 I took tracings of the outlines of this 'Greek God'  collection  then did another tracing of the shapes 

The First technique I tried was using carbon paper under the tracing and then applying inks to the resulting drawing 

Mixed results with monoprinting : we inked up acetate sheets and placed paper and  then tracing or photocopy on top and drew through the layers. Too many variable of paper ( wet , damp or dry) , pressure , how much ink on the acetate , these ( above, below and top ) are the least worst. 

I had better success  with the tracings of faces then monoprint.( carbon paper also worked well for this)  

While I was waiting for my  scrap book and photocopies, I put together a quick   A3 collage of circles and curves to use 

 I used this as a basis for colour monoprinting: placing image under acetate sheet, colouring areas with coloured printing ink and transferring acetate to dampened piece of paper. 

I've had much better results using monoprinting before  both  as a drawing medium and using acrylic/ seletescine inks  on fabric . However I like the idea of using a collage as a starting point for painting  and might explore using different colour  carbon papers 

Meanwhile collage materials are taking over my studio! As a newbie to this technique, how do people store and organise all their bits? 

Contemporary Collage Week 5 : Decoupage

This week  in Contemporary Collage   we were looking at 'decoupage'  moving from making collage on flat surfaces to decorating an object. Artists we looked at included: Rauschenberg; Matthew Jackson; Peter Blake, Raschid Jackson: Grayson Perry; Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell 

We were asked to bring in something  that didn't mind collaging over, cutting up or adding to. I found this pink card suitcase in the childrens section of a charity shop and  having grand ideas  about  making a Shrine   for Lost Earrings , I also brought in a selection of the small  boxes I'd collected over the years when purchasing earrings. 

Apart from the usual losses/ breakages , I had a purse of  favourite earrings lost/stolen from my rucksack when left in the lobby of a hotel in Athens in 2002 . Some of them I had remade  but others were irreplacable  ( incuding some I'd bought in  Seraphos just days before) .  Since then I only take earrings on holiday that I wouldn't mind losing too much ( I mainly wear dichroic glass ones)

I   even made a  Journal Quilt   containing fabric I printed using scans of  earrings 

and have been meaning to make  an amulet against lost earrings for quite some years ( pictures below are from the excellent book on the subject by Sheila Paine. ) 

I'd gone through magazines cutting out anything to do with jewelry  or red and pink in colour  and had a fine time choosing strange images to stick on

I then found a picture of theatre boxes  from an old V&A members magazine  to  stuck  inside  and  decided to leave it as it was  ( with the addition of a Greek God ). Not so much shrine as suitcase theatre. A bit obvious  but working in 3D is still outside my comfort zone.  

 Unlike Judith  who  with her  architecture/ sculpture  background produced  this amazing structure  ( particularly like the internal space and reflections )

After lunch I turned my attentions to all the little boxes ( reminded by Simon of the boxes of Susan Hiller) 

I used scraps of fabric, sequin waste and foil; bits of braid and ribbon; old stamps :  quirky illustrations from magazines; fold out strips of paper.  As usual time passed too quickly and I'm just staring to explore the possibilities of combining them , stacking them , putting them together.  Some of them  might still end up as miniature pocket shrines.   

 I'll miss the 'bricollage' session next week as I'll  be  in Rydal   but Simon suggested I join in spirit  when I go on walks making  some assemblages  and taking photos of them.