Definitions:
According to the Macquarie Dictionary:
Collage: A pictorial composition made from any or a combination from various materials, such as newspaper, cloth etc., affixed in juxtaposition to a surface and often combined with colour and line from the artists own hands.
Juxtaposition: The act of placing in close proximity or side by side.
Surreal: of or relating to the dreamlike experiences, etc., dealt with by surrealism. 2. The surreal, the world of these experiences.
Surrealism: a movement in literature and art from about 1919, based on the expression of imagination uncontrolled by reason, and seeking to suggest the activities of the subconscious mind.

Research
All Pictures Can Be Found Using A Google Search: Titles Have Been Included or a Web Address OR go to my visual art diary for 2010... It contains a heap of information!! It is a must see destination!!

John Heartfield:
John Heartfield was against Hitler and the ways of the Nazi party. Some of his work represents this. Some of his work was related to the hate of Jews that was present at the time of his work. He also made political advertisements and magazine covers.
This piece relates to the communist party that Heartfield supported.
This was an anti-Hitler poster used during the 1932 election.

Visit: http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/artarchive.html for many of his works.


Richard Huelsenbeck – The End of the World (A surreal poem)
The cows sit on the telegraph poles and play chess
The cockatoo under the skirts of the Spanish dancer
Sings as sadly as a headquaters bugler and the cannon lament all day
That is the lavender landscape Herr Mayer was talking about
when he lost his eye
Only the fire department can drive the nightmare from the drawing-
room bur all the hoses are broken
Ah yes Sonya they all take the celluloid doll for a changeling
and shout: God save the King
The whole Monist Club is gathered on the steamship Meyerbeer
But only the pilot has any conception of high C
I pull the anatomical atlas out of my toe
a serious study begins
Have you seen the fish that have been standing in front of the
opera in cutaways
for the last two days and nights...?
Ah ah ye great devils - ah ah ye keepers of bees and commandments
With a bow wow wow with a bow woe woe who does today not know
what our Father Homer wrote
I hold peace and war in my toga but I'll take a cherry flip
Today nobody knows whether he was tomorrow
They beat time with a coffin lid
If somebody had the nerve to rip the tail feathers
out of the trolley car it's a great age
The professors of zoology gather in the medows
With the palms of their hands they turn back the rainbows
the great magician sats the tomatoes on his forehead
Again thou hauntest castle and grounds
The roebuck whistles the stallion bounds
(And this is how the world is this is all that's ahead of us).
Hannah Hock Hannah uses juxtaposition to create objects and creatures that usually have some human features. Here is one example.


Max Ernst
Two children are threatened by a nightingale
The Postman Cheval
In Max Ernst’s works, people can see dramatic juxtaposition of human body parts and animal parts. With scales being changed, non-related objects fabricated some new relationships in a new context. When viewers encountered Ernst’s collage, their subconscious memories were easily to be recalled because of Ernst’s direct demonstration of their dreamy states.

Man Ray
Glass Tears

Man Ray, Untitled Rayograph [Scissors and cut paper], 1927.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California.
Man Ray used photography to create surrealism.

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Schwitters used old scaps of paper, photographs and other materials to create surrealist collage.

Kurt Schwitters, Merz Pictures, 1921. montage on board.

Kurt Schwitters, Merz Pictures 32 A. The Cherry Picture, 1921. montage on board.


Winston Smith

The Soul Reborn 2007


Armed Madhouse 2005
Smith tackles political, moral and social issues using montage collages.

Raoul Hausmann was the cofounder of the Berlin Dada movement in 1917, and the creator of photomontage in the following year. Photomontage is the art of arranging and glueing photographs or other found illustrative material onto a surface. Strictly speaking it is a type of collage, and it is included here because it is a process of selection, placement and sometimes embellishment, which sets it apart from photographic record, no matter how much this 'record' is distorted by the photographic apparatus or by subsequent techniques of developing. Hausmann actually gave up painting in 1923 and became more interested in various experimental photographic procedures.

Dada Cino

I highly recommend a search of a library for books on surrealist collage- there are plenty of resources available... I found a great book on Joseph Cornell as well as some great Australian artists!!

1. Pure Surrealism

This composition is entitled When No One Is Looking. It uses juxtaposition and scale to create a surreal scene depicting a creation of a potion in a cauldron and some mysterious onlookers. Scale has been used to emphasise the implied depth of the composition, as well as the surrealist nature of it. Juxtaposition has been used to create a dream-like situation that makes sense only in the eye of the beholder. That is to say that it can be interpreted in many ways, and that is fine.
Monochromatic greens have been used to compliment the background, and draw a focal point to the colours that are not greens (the contrast between the deep purple and yellows and the greens and browns that surround these two colours). The green also creates balance within the piece, making sure that an area is not left blank or boring. Harmony is created by tying all these pieces together with the colour green.
Line is also used to draw the viewer’s eyes to the focal point. The stairs, wings, spoon and the area cut out of the wall to house the ‘fountain’ all create lines to the focal point of the cauldron and the flame that is heating the cauldron. Emphasis is obviously placed on these areas because of the line and colours. The unorganised, organic lines in the garden area create a contrast to the organised lines of the focal area.
The mood in this piece is quite mysterious, and it seems as if a large activity is taking place and someone has just snapped a picture right in the middle of it.

2. Environmental Issues

The message: Deforestation is ruining our planet. It is a surprise that the trees haven’t fought back yet.

This piece is entitled: Reclaim. It depicts a building site where a forest used to be. The wood that is being used to build the houses is beginning to grow again, fighting back against the ones who killed them and the wildlife is return to live in their former home.

Contrast in colour was used to emphasise the focal points, as well as to make the piece stand out. The use of repeated green also helps to balance the picture.
Contrast in line was also used, the contrast between the straight, angled lines of the soon-to-be buildings and the organic, curved lines of the green leaves and branches.
Negative space is important in this composition as it provides a great sense of implied depth, emphasising the message of the large expanses that are being deforested to make way for development.
The lack of harmony between colour and placement in this piece is deliberate; it is supposed to be in-your-face and striking.
There are two types of texture in this composition. Real texture is created by the layering that occurs in some places, and also implied texture. The real texture has nothing to do with anything, so let’s move on to the implied texture. The implied texture also creates contrast between the natural and man-made, emphasising the meaning.
More than one focal point is created to make the viewers mind slightly confused, so they have to think carefully about the issue being presented.
Although subtle, scale has been played with to emphasis the message. The juxtaposition of the contrasting colours and lines creates interest and gives a striking feel to the piece.

3. Political or Social Issues

The message: Violence is Everywhere. It is becoming as common as seeing a tree, it is becoming as natural to the environment we live as trees. We just watch it on the news, read about it, take pleasure in it (not me, but others) and walk past it every day.

This piece is entitled: Life in the Big City. The use of scale and juxtaposition in this work help to portray a very real message in a surreal, exaggerated way. “We... walk past it every day.” The person in this image is taking a leisurely stroll through a violence filled area, not a care in the world- and why shouldn’t there be? I mean, this person probably has seen it all before, so why worry... Seeing someone holding a gun is as common and almost as natural as walking past a mighty tree, and a broken bottle, well if you added all the ones you’ve ever seen it would be three times the size of the one depicted... so no need to worry.
The use of basic colours contributes the message of how almost black and white this problem is. The problem is a problem, it needs to be tackled. There is nothing exciting or glamorous about violence, it is everywhere and that is how it is.
Repetition of shape is essential to this image. It creates the impression that it isn’t just one person, or one place. The problem of violence is everywhere.
The use of an over sized broken bottle helps to emphasise the point, and create a focal point. The meaning of this work might not be immediately present, but that is somewhat intended. The viewer has to think about it, look at it closely and figure it out. I believe that this is a way in which the problem of violence could be tackled.
The balance in this piece is deliberately off, with the leaning trees in the background, and the concentration of items on the right compared to the left is used to show that although the problem is everywhere, it is more influential in some places compared to others.
The mood is supposed to be casual, but striking at the same time, showing how startling the casual violence that is seen in society is.

4. Indigenous Perspectives

The message: Modern society is cutting and has cut down the very roots of indigenous societies. (This is not necessarily regarding only Australian indigenous people, but indigenous cultures from other continents also.)

This piece is entitled: Down Goes Down the Tree, and with it Their Culture. This composition depicts a Union Jack flag holding a modern chainsaw that is cutting down a tree with an indigenous person perched on it. The tree represents the indigenous culture and society, and the chainsaw represents modern society that is ripping down that culture and society with no regard for what they could teach us.
Focal point is created by using a set of bright colours in contrast to the duller colours that surround it. By using a large expanse of almost empty space, it helps to not complicate the issues being portrayed and keep the viewers mind focussed.
Apart from the flag, dull colours are used to symbolise the feelings that many modern societies have toward indigenous communities.
The use of a rippling flag is used to fit in with the organic environment it is surrounded by, and to represent how modern societies believe that they do this to the areas where they live. It creates contrast to the artificial, machinery look that the chainsaw imposes. The use of simplicity ensures that people don’t miss the point, therefore recognise the problem.

Making the Collages...
I highly enjoyed making these collages. I found them a challenge, an interesting way to express myself and worthwhile experience as I got to address and learn about issues that I feel strongly about.
Finding the backgrounds was difficult, for they had to be just right. When I found that perfect background I knew almost at once because ideas came flowing into my head. I found on in the National Geographic at school, one in a home décor magazine which I then cut to size and the other two I photocopied from my National Geographic magazines at home. I chose ones that I felt would help me express what needed to be expressed and left my options open, so if one didn’t work out I could move onto a different idea without needing to search for a new background. I also chose backgrounds that I found interesting and visually appealing.
Most of my ideas came from flipping through magazines. Even if I didn’t end up using the pieces I found in the magazine, because it wasn’t the right size or in the right position, I still drew most of my inspiration from improvised ideas. Some ideas, although were pre-planned, which I would then source from the internet or books (I LOVE scanning!). I got to use some of my picture-editing skills to make the images what I wanted them to be. For example, I had to scan one of the wings, crop it and flip it to make them symmetrical because the magazine only depicted one wing… so I turned it into two! Some ideas came from Mrs. Vincent, which helped to improve my work and give me a point to work on.
Using scalpels was interesting. Sometimes they were blunt, and that was not fun. Other times they were sharp and I would slip and cut off half a leaf or other part of my objects, which was annoying. They were, although, very useful for cutting out bits in between other parts, or slitting into the background, to make the added parts look more real. They also made life easier when doing detailed areas, unless of course I slipped… woops. Once in a while, when I was doing simple outline cutting, it was a relief just to use good old scissors again.
Gluing on was a challenge. Slipping in all the parts properly, making sure they didn’t fold over or fall off… it was an adventure at times, especially when I did a big sigh and then the entire bit fluttered all around me. I came up with strategies though, including squares, because my fingers were sometimes too bulky, and the use of the scalpel to guide an object underneath a small hole in the background.
Making the collages look real, and visually appealing was fun, challenging and exciting. I enjoyed the issues chosen, as well as the research undertaken- this helped me with ideas on how to go about my collage and with insight into different strategies of collage as well as some of the fantastic things that can come out of collage.
If I was to do the collages again, I think I would go for more of a montage for at least one of them, I find this a very interesting way of expressing many in depth topics in one piece of work.
Lastly, one of the most interesting things was to see how other peoples work turned out and how they developed them. The topics some people chose showed high levels of maturity and their products inspired me to think about these issues. I have always been one to take pleasure in observing other people at work and the work they produce, and this task has not disappointed me.