Assemblage (art)

Assemblage (art)

above; 'Canyon',  1959,  by Robert Ruaschenberg

This week I’m going to show some examples of ‘assemblage art’.  Just prior to the Easter break the tutor from the art class I go to asked us to collect objects over the Easter holidays and create our own assemblage art with them after the break. I wasn’t familiar with the term, but I did know of art works that were made from different objects and images and so I had a rough idea of what was expected. I’ve really enjoyed the process, its not something I’ve ever tried before and its opened up whole new ways of seeing and thinking for me.
Anyway…………first a little of what Wikipedia has to say about ‘Assemblage Art and then a few examples of it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Assemblage is an artistic process. In the visual arts, it consists of making three-dimensional or two-dimensional artistic compositions by putting together found objects.

The origin of the artform dates to the cubist constructions of Pablo Picasso. The origin of the word (in its artistic sense) can be traced back to the early 1950s, when Jean Dubuffet created a series of collages of butterfly wings, which he titled assemblages d'empreintes. However, both Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso had been working with found objects for many years prior to Dubuffet. They were not alone. Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin creates his "counter-reliefs" in the middle of 1910s. Alongside Tatlin, the earliest woman artist to try her hand at assemblage was Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, the Dada Baroness. In addition, one of the earliest and most prolific was Louise Nevelson, who began creating her sculptures from found pieces of wood in the late 1930s.

Read more here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assemblage_%28art%29

( above) Contemporary environmental assemblage art wall work, made from found driftwood objects. Abstract recycled art created from driftwood collected from Australian beaches by John Dalhsen.

(above) Art by Judy Vartan, Hand-cast paper assemblage


(above) Self-Inflicted Wounds
Social Political Assemblage; Mixed media assemblage by John Robertson
From the artist about the work;
‘’I've always loved black paint and have used
it a lot in my work. But I have never used it
for the whole object d'Art. Here it really adds
something to the political message of this piece.
Size is 11" x 11" x 1" , black paint, wood, plastic,
metal toys’’

more examples here.
http://fragileindustries.com/what_is_assemblage_art.html



And this is what I came up with, it’s entitled ‘Bringing the Holiday Home’. This is  made from a small suitcase that looks like any other small case suitable for traveling and taking on holiday. The idea is that; instead of coming home and opening your case to find dirty laundry and a half empty bottle of sun tan cream, you open it and find you’ve brought the holiday home with you.


I ripped out the lining of the case and covered the inside with images that I took while I was away. Once the images were dry I glued various objects from the holiday into the case.

The whole thing sits on a small block of wood that is covered in pages ripped from a French text book.

 The luggage ticket is actually a photo of the window in my sisters house and the wording on the ticket describes the work. This is the first time I've tried any thing like this but I think I'll be trying it again.