My collage series was inspired by Bruce Nauman; an artist who created work I was interested in and went to visit at the MoMA museum. I created 6 collages, all of which were created on photoshop. All of the collages are based on Nauman’s work (though it might be hard to tell immediately which works each one is based on). The collages I created follow the theme of modern-day dilemmas, and I express these themes through objects (mostly branded) or statements to evoke a sense of familiarity with the audience.
Below are the collages:
Seminar Written Assignment (Exhibition Text Style):
Collaging is a form of art combining elements and ideas from our surroundings in order to create meaning from a disorganized plethora of information and imagery. In collaboration with contemporary artist Bruce Nauman, this collage series utilizes imagery found in many of Nauman’s work which is then manipulated to convey another message: the daily modern day dilemmas our generation faces. Featuring famous works from Nauman such as “One Hundred Live and Die” and “White Anger, Red Danger, Yellow Peril, Black Death”, this collage series selects interesting and engaging elements from these artworks and adds a modern twist to them such as adding brand names or incorporating recent electronic gadgets. Each collage was created digitally using photoshop so that photos were cut, cropped and drawn over to incorporate doodles. Text is a large part of this collage series as it is used to convey brand names, meaning and Nauman’s works. “Days” is a sound installation by Nauman where different speakers, each with different speakers, would repeatedly read out the days of the week. In order to include this in the collage series, the days of the week were written in the background on the collage piece in different shapes and sizes to imitate the way the weekdays were spoken in his piece. Although it may not be immediately apparent which artist these collages are a collaboration with, there are repeated symbols and ideas scattered throughout the series which prompt the viewers to think and create their own interpretations and meanings to this series.
Works Mentioned:
“White Anger, Red Danger, Yellow Peril, Black Death” 1984
“One Hundred Live and Die” 1984
“Days” 2009
Self Assessment
For my collage in conversation with an artist series, I chose to focus on artist Bruce Nauman. His contemporary artwork centered around geometric shapes and neon lights which I thought would be fun to try and experiment with. All of my collages were made by using photoshop, a medium that was the most flexible and appropriate for this artist. Through my collages, I engaged with the artist mostly in a humorous way so as to express my theme: modern day dilemmas that our generation faces. I started each collage based on one of his works and slowly added my own ideas onto it, and sometimes it meant that my collage would go off on a different tangent but it always went back to my main theme. From looking at his work, I would read his artwork and translate my own interpretations of them onto the collage through images I either find or draw. Therefore, I would give myself 20 points for this section.
My collages were all made on photoshop however I felt like it would be the most appropriate medium to use for the themes of my collages. From using photoshop alone, I drew over the work (using different blending modes to create different effects), I combined secondary images by cropping and also included my own photographs which I edited over. Although I did not experiment with 3D elements, I feel like I still experimented with how to create these collages. I would give myself 16 points for this section.
Last but least, I felt like my collages were the appropriate scale and media for the choice of approach. All my collages are the same size and were made on large 18 x 24 inch canvas. I felt like this was the appropriate size because it would be more impactful and get the main message across quicker. I would give myself 20 points for this section
