LAW 176: Construction of a collage

 I was talking with Don today about the construction of this piece. How it came together, how i used the elements to create the composition.

From one of my ongoing collage journals, Eye to Eye,  6.5 x 10" spiral bound hardcover with black cardstock. 

IS THIS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE

I enjoy working ideas out in my collage journals. I try to not get too invested in them as finished projects, rather more like a handy way to develop new vocubulary.

Not to mention, working in as limited space as i do, it is far simpler to be able to close a notebook, than finding safe, dry storage for larger individual pieces.

Unlike my normal practice of coming to the collage table without preconceptions of what i was going to create, in this case i knew what i wanted to make. Triggered by the outside of a very official looking envelope, which was nothing more than yet another come on for life insurance. I saw that pre-approved bar code, and instantly decided i had to use it.

I just might have either been listening to or had the lyrics of the Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime" going through my head. Although i didn't know exactly what image i was going to use, i did know that i wanted a sort of as above, as below sort of thing going on.

This collage turned into a technical challenge when i had to make the decision to use one side of a page instead of the other. 

As an aside, at the very beginning of my collage "career" i decided to not copy nor print images. This was for two basic reasons, i did not want to let the images get too precious; and i felt that copying and printing multiples of images lessened what i saw as a primary thrust of collage, the spontaneity of random juxtaposition in composition.

Of course this means that i am often put into the position of sacrificing one image to use the other. Such a dilemma.

Another technical challenge here: how to use an element that is only half of a recognizable image, in particular the image of the woman's legs. Blessed serendipity came into play when i realized that i could indeed eat my cake and have it too. That the image that i decided to sacrifice was intact enough that i could use it as well.

Structurally i felt that the two background pieces of numbers and computer imagery weren't strong enough, or didn't provide enought contrast to convey my intention. Amazingly the reverse of the off cut from between her legs turned out to fit perfectly in that problematic negative space.

Tying the whole piece together is the photo of a group of young women from circa 1930's Germany. So, two different media sources using the metaphor of swimming in advertising to sell us something other than what we have.

Keep on making

more later,

gail