Creative Writing Autobiography

A Day in the Life Photo Essay

Express Yourself Collage

Participate in Online Discussion

Express Yourself Collage

Background
In the first decade of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was one of the first artists to make a papier collé or collage by pasting a piece of paper in the middle of a drawing. Since that time, collage has grown to encompass much more than pasting a piece of paper on another surface. Artists use collage to push the limits of what art is by incorporating all kinds of materials other than traditional ones such as paint, paper, and clay. Collage is a kind of multi-layered, symbolic language that offers artists unlimited possibilities of combining the past and present, words and images, two and three dimensions, and realistic and abstract styles.

Found objects are natural, handmade, or manufactured objects of all kinds that are part of any individual’s environment. Examples include shells, leaves, seeds, flowers, buttons, bottle caps, fabric, stamps, postcards, and printed words and pictures from newspapers, magazines, and other sources. Students will use these inanimate objects and combine them with paint or markers to create an overall composition that represents some aspect of their lives.

Collage Artist Links
Many artists use collage and found objects to tell their own stories. Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (b. 1940), the artist whose work is featured on this Web site, uses fabric, cloth, buttons, a combination of mud and clay, and other found objects to create complex drawings, paintings, books, and sculpture. To find out more about her work, click Meet the Artist.

Visit these other sites to see diverse examples of collage and to find out about the artists who created them.

www.beardenfoundation.org
www.kurtschwitters.org
www.griffinandsabine.com
www.collagemuseum.com

Materials:
Cardboard or poster board to use as support
Students’ found objects
Glue
Scissors
Paint or markers
Newspapers and magazines

Vocabulary Terms
Abstract- nonfigurative; non-realistic
Collage- a work of art made by attaching found objects to a surface with glue or paste
Contemporary- current
Inanimate- not alive
Papier collé – French for glued paper
Found objects – natural, handmade, or manufactured things

Make a Collage
1. A week or two before students begin the project, have them collect found objects that have some meaning to them. The teacher can assemble a box of interesting found objects to serve as an example. Discuss the idea of collage and its importance as a contemporary art technique. Have them search the Web sites listed here and others to find examples of collage.

2. Discuss design, composition, and pattern with students and how they can apply these elements to their collage. Students select words, phrases, lines, or all of the “I am from” poems they have written to include in their collage. Words from their poems can be cut from newspapers, magazines, or other print sources or students can hand design parts of their poems, or use text printed from their computers.

3. Have students begin arranging their objects and words on the cardstock. When they are satisfied with their arrangement, have them glue them to the support. They can also add paint or marker.

4. Have the students explain their work to the class. The completed project should be posted to the students’ Web page.

Questions for Reflection
1. Why was the technique of collage such an important development in the history of 20th –century western art?

2. If your goal is to communicate “who you are” to others, do you think writing or visual art is more effective? How about a combination of both? Why do you think so?

3. Do you think it’s possible to communicate autobiographical information through abstract art? Why or why not?