I've never really thought of a collage as a fine art form before. Collages were just fun things that I used to make when I was little, my own little masterpieces of magazine clippings and bits of construction paper. They sometimes stressed me out because they usually didn't come out exactly the way I wanted them to; the very nature of them went against my innate desire for order, structure, and control. But I did enjoy the process of cutting out shapes and choosing the way I wanted all of them to be laid out on the paper. For me, when I was little, collages were a way to pass the time, and I never really viewed them as art, but I suppose if I were to go back to my house in Massachusetts today and pull out some of the collages I made as a child (assuming my parents kept some of them), I might find a certain beauty in them. Something about the patterns found within little Juliana's collages might be indicative of certain personality traits.
Similarly, collages made by professional artists must mean something, must have a message. When I go to art museums, I probably spend the greatest amount of time looking at the collages, and they have the least impact on me. In my opinion, collages, more than any other art form, are like puzzles with more than one feasible solution but only one correct solution. I enjoy trying to figure them out, but I don't recall ever encountering one that really resonated with me.
I think it's interesting to think of the concept of the collage as it applies to other mediums of art, such as music, film, and dance. Each of these mediums must have a method or concept that serves as the equivalent of the collage in the world of visual art. In Jared Leibowich's article about collages, he compares them to the "mash-up" style that has recently become popular in the music world. I was reminded of the fact that the first choral concert of the year here at Ithaca College was called "The Choral Collage," because that's what it was: a mix of choirs performing an array of different types of music.
While reading the article, I was fascinated to learn that puns, double meanings, and wordplay are considered to be an essential part of a good collage. I had always thought of them as being totally random, never as being witty or humorous. This knowledge has inspired me to view collages in a new light in the future. Maybe if I train myself to search for the double meaning while I look at a collage, I'll finally be able to understand what it's trying to say!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNwARV9tPUw
Above is a link to my personal favorite collage, and my favorite type of collage: the video montage. There doesn't seem to be a double meaning of any kind, but otherwise it seems to fit the definition of a collage. It's the closing sequence of the final episode of the hit TV series Six Feet Under, and it's widely considered to be one of the greatest series finales in television history. I did not watch this show; I was in elementary school when it was on the air. I don't know anything about this show other than that it dealt with death in some way. But my parents loved this show, and the day after the finale aired they had all of my siblings and me sit down and watch this sequence. We asked them, "Why? We don't know any of the characters." And they responded, "Because this is art, and you may never see anything like it again." Now that I'm old enough to appreciate the emotion and forethought that went into the making of this montage, I understand why my parents (and millions of other viewers) were so impressed by it. The music, the editing, the colors...everything about it is on point. I've never watched it without crying, and I reiterate that I know nothing about these characters. If you've never seen it, check it out!
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