Collages
Definition
Col·lage
A piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric on to a backing.
Here's my first attempt at making a collage. It was meant to represent the contrast between new urbanised world (cars, mansions etc) and the old poorer (homeless man, old building) world. There was also the London skyline in the back. We used different colours, textures etc to represent this. It would have been better if we had planned it better, added more things to the actual collage and spent more time on it.
Col·lage
A piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric on to a backing.
Here's my first attempt at making a collage. It was meant to represent the contrast between new urbanised world (cars, mansions etc) and the old poorer (homeless man, old building) world. There was also the London skyline in the back. We used different colours, textures etc to represent this. It would have been better if we had planned it better, added more things to the actual collage and spent more time on it.
Peggy Franck
Peggy Franck is a Dutch artist born in 1978. She creates an exciting art by using images and space as interior and exterior. All her work is created for photography, she arranges objects in the photographic images so it appears as an abstract composition. She has had work in the London Photographers Gallery too.
She uses a very wide range of materials, including paper, fabric, plastic, metal etc. Her work is collections of various materials carefully placed together, which fits the collage definition. She shows lots of different emotions and feelings in her work by using different colours, textures and patterns. There are mirrors and frames because they make the photo more aesthetically pleasing by making the eye move around the photo via a certain route. It also frames the picture nicely so it loos nicer overall. There are mirrors so you can see other parts of the 'scene' too, it also makes the photo look more 3D.
She uses a very wide range of materials, including paper, fabric, plastic, metal etc. Her work is collections of various materials carefully placed together, which fits the collage definition. She shows lots of different emotions and feelings in her work by using different colours, textures and patterns. There are mirrors and frames because they make the photo more aesthetically pleasing by making the eye move around the photo via a certain route. It also frames the picture nicely so it loos nicer overall. There are mirrors so you can see other parts of the 'scene' too, it also makes the photo look more 3D.
My Response
We used plastic bag material, black fabric and silver tin foil. We wanted to show the emotion 'anger'. Our first idea was to make a 'fire' using the black fabric and tin foil as the actual fire and the plastic as smoke above the fire. We also used the mirror to reflect light to really emphasise the 'fire' look. However unfortunately it did not look very good so we decided to use a person in the photo too. But covering her face and if she turned her head quickly it looked very weird and as though she was angry. But it still did not look very good and professional, and we had not used the mirror in this version of the picture. I think we should have worked more on making an actual frame and a place for the eye to look, as it was not very aesthically pleasing.
Our contact sheet:
Our contact sheet:
Selects
We edited these in Adobe Photoshop to brighten them.
We edited these in Adobe Photoshop to brighten them.
Roy Arden
Roy Arden's 'Sweeper' 2009 is a collage made from all the remnants swept from the floor of his studio.
Roy Arden's 'Sweeper' 2009 is a collage made from all the remnants swept from the floor of his studio.
He used materials which he didn't want to use in other collages so this is why the collage looks a bit messy and not very neat. Although the materials seem to be placed quite randomly he actually carefully placed them to show emotions, stories, events etc.
My Response
The structure of this collage is in a triangle, it looks like it might be a building (maybe the Shard or the Eiffel Tower.) At the lower part of the collage the materials go right up to the edge of the paper, while at the higher part of the collage there's lots of free space and the materials don't touch the edges of the paper. The effect of this is that it makes the image more aesthetically pleasing because the eye has a 'route' to look up the triangle.
In the lower part of the image the materials are darker than at the top, the effect of this is that it seems to be getting brighter and more positive higher up. At the top the pieces of material are usually longer and at the bottom they are shorter and more square like. I also added an image of someone smiling at the bottom because I thought it looked nice and the colours seem to fit quite well together. You can also see the words 'artists' and 'applied' these words didn't really have a meaning I just placed them there so after the eye has traveled up the image it can travel down and read the two words together to make 'artists applied' or you could read it the other way 'applied artists.' I also like how both these words begin in a. There is also some string unraveling in the collage, this could suggest that the collage is negative because it's unraveling and not staying rolled up. To create this collage I used scarps on material and magazine clippings stuck onto a piece of white paper using glue. I think overall I could have planned it a bit more because whilst I was putting the images together I didn't really think about what they meant, I was more focusing on how the collage just looked as a whole. My collage is quite different to Arden's 'Sweeper'. His was a lot more abstract and used more clippings. Although his looks more random he had actually thought about what each material meant and were to place it, which mine didn't so much. |
Hayley Warnham - Homework
Here is some of Warnham's work
Here is some of Warnham's work
My response
I photoshopped in objects to the photos I had taken so they looked similar to Warnham's photos. I also made the background black and white like Warnham did.
Gordon Magnin
His work:
His work:
My response
Lucas Simoes
Here is some of his work.
Here is some of his work.
For the homework I took about 10 images then printed them all out. I experimented different positions by folding the images then I decided on the positions of each image and cut them and stuck them into place. It was meant to represent differeent emotions in her facial expression.
Here's the result:
Here's the result:
Herbert Bayer
Lonely Metropolitan, 1932
Lonely Metropolitan, 1932
This is the 'Lonely Metropolitan' by Herbert Bayer from 1932.
In his artwork Bayer was trying to show represent the feelings he felt, claustrophobia, insecure etc. He did this by having a very tall building and the windows very close which suggests claustrophobia. This links to Bayer at the time because he had just moved to a city, so he might of felt claustrophobia, insecure, lonely and isolated. He felt that these feelings were felt by people in the city and that it was a problem in the society. The eyes, hands and sleeves are from two different people it suggests the feeling may of been felt by more than one person in the city. He wanted the people who saw his art to feel what he felt when he moved to the city. Bayer trained in Bauhaus which is a school which had a vision of how art and design could improve society, this would of had a large impact on his work. He was also a Surrealist and part of the Surrealism Movement, 1922 - 1941, which also would have influenced him. At the time surrealists bought together images that were realistic but presented an unreal situation, whilst trying to express the subconscious, like Bayer did. Bayer was also aware of Germany's political situation at the time, which may of influenced his work. Bayer cut out images from magazines and photos then stuck them together to create his work. He always made sure it had lots of detail and was very neat. He stuck them on by using hand applied pigment and gouache. |
John Stezaker
His work is often made using images from postcards, film stills, books and magazines. He stuck them together by hand to present different feelings, emotions and relationships. Sometimes his work represents memories and modern culture etc. He also showed the contrast between two pictures, for example a glamorous women and a man or a river and someones face.
His work is often made using images from postcards, film stills, books and magazines. He stuck them together by hand to present different feelings, emotions and relationships. Sometimes his work represents memories and modern culture etc. He also showed the contrast between two pictures, for example a glamorous women and a man or a river and someones face.
My Response. The first ones I did by hand and the second I did by PhotoShop.
David Hockney
This is the Pearblossom Highway by David Hockey. He wanted to show one viewpoint from lots of different angles. Although the actual viewpoint of the image is from one point you can see all the different areas and objects in lots of detail. Another reason why he took individual photos to show one whole image is that the colours look nice and vibrant. You don't lose any of the original detail and colour of each picture.
In the image you can see a road going up to the horizon from the centre. There are road signs and trees on either side of the road. The colour of the sky is very blue and all the other colours are very bright and contrasting because of the different tones in each colour. The effect of this is that the image pulls you in and it looks aesthetically pleasing. He wanted to represent the fact that everyone doesn't see things in the same view. He took 800 photos, each one was taken very close to the subject of each picture, He went up on ladders and sat on the floor to show the different viewpoints. |
This is my response to David Hockney. I took lots (20-30) images then selected 4 which were in focus and showed you various emotions and expressions. I then photoshopped the 4 images together, overall I had 36 different selections of the 4 images on the background images. I made sure to keep the body parts together, but showed different faces to represent the different feelings of the 4 images.
Final Piece
The inspiration of my final piece was Joseba Elorza. He is a sound technician who uses digital collage and illustration to represent his feelings about what is happening at the time. He blends humor, technology, science fiction and anonymous historical photography to create his work.
I wanted him to be my inspiration for my final piece because I thought his work was very interesting, he makes such surreal scenarios seem so normal by layering different scenes together.
Here is some of his work which inspired me:
I wanted him to be my inspiration for my final piece because I thought his work was very interesting, he makes such surreal scenarios seem so normal by layering different scenes together.
Here is some of his work which inspired me:
My Final Pieces
1.
I really liked the idea of putting completely different backgrounds in casual situations. I wanted to use a detailed photo of a galaxy on a normal boardwalk. I thought this would look interesting because now you would never see such a detailed sky on Earth. What I did could be interpreted as something that would never happen or it could be seen as a representation of the future.
I had taken the bottom photo on the boardwalk when I was in America a few months ago. I liked the photo because I thought it showed a casual situation quite well. The top photo I found on the internet, I wanted a photo which was very impressive and the colours were very vibrant so it contrasted well with the bottom photo. I edited the photos together on Photoshop. First I deleted the sky of the lower photo so the galaxy photo could fit in. I put the galaxy photo onto it and made sure the galaxy layer was below the beach layer. I made sure it looked realistic by deleting the gaps in the sky in the small building to the left. After it looked as realistic as possible I had the idea of adding a shadow of the sky. I copied the image over again onto another layer and lowered the opacity of the layer, then I flipped it over so it looked more like a shadow. However I didn't really like the way it turned out, it lowered the over all contrast of the two photos together, so I didn't include the shadow in the final piece.
1.
I really liked the idea of putting completely different backgrounds in casual situations. I wanted to use a detailed photo of a galaxy on a normal boardwalk. I thought this would look interesting because now you would never see such a detailed sky on Earth. What I did could be interpreted as something that would never happen or it could be seen as a representation of the future.
I had taken the bottom photo on the boardwalk when I was in America a few months ago. I liked the photo because I thought it showed a casual situation quite well. The top photo I found on the internet, I wanted a photo which was very impressive and the colours were very vibrant so it contrasted well with the bottom photo. I edited the photos together on Photoshop. First I deleted the sky of the lower photo so the galaxy photo could fit in. I put the galaxy photo onto it and made sure the galaxy layer was below the beach layer. I made sure it looked realistic by deleting the gaps in the sky in the small building to the left. After it looked as realistic as possible I had the idea of adding a shadow of the sky. I copied the image over again onto another layer and lowered the opacity of the layer, then I flipped it over so it looked more like a shadow. However I didn't really like the way it turned out, it lowered the over all contrast of the two photos together, so I didn't include the shadow in the final piece.
My Final Piece
2.
The second one was quite similar to the first, I kept the idea of a abnormal sky on a normal foreground. However this time I used the Earth and the Moon. This is less realistic because you wouldn't be able to see Earth from Earth. So the interpretation of this photo will be different according to whoever's looking at it.
The top image was from the internet, I wanted to use a photo of the Earth which was from a straight on angle so the work looked more semetrical. I made sure it was high quality so it looked better and more realistic. I positioned the Earth so it showed America, where the lower photo was taken, so it ties in more. The lower image was taken in Grand Central Station in New York. I liked the photo because it was straight on so looked aesthetically pleasing.
I paid attention to the detail, for example the windows on the sides of the walls. Then I edited the brightness and contrast so it looked as realistic as possible.
2.
The second one was quite similar to the first, I kept the idea of a abnormal sky on a normal foreground. However this time I used the Earth and the Moon. This is less realistic because you wouldn't be able to see Earth from Earth. So the interpretation of this photo will be different according to whoever's looking at it.
The top image was from the internet, I wanted to use a photo of the Earth which was from a straight on angle so the work looked more semetrical. I made sure it was high quality so it looked better and more realistic. I positioned the Earth so it showed America, where the lower photo was taken, so it ties in more. The lower image was taken in Grand Central Station in New York. I liked the photo because it was straight on so looked aesthetically pleasing.
I paid attention to the detail, for example the windows on the sides of the walls. Then I edited the brightness and contrast so it looked as realistic as possible.