Post 50 - Lit Review B - Essay 3

BORDER CONTROL: TESTING THE LIMITS OF COLLAGE BY YUVAL ETGAR

Collage holds immense historical significance as a cornerstone of modern art, marked by Picasso and Braque's ground breaking assemblages, and it is still a vital influence on contemporary art today.

Collage is both an artistic method and a philosophical approach, involving piecing together fragments and diverse elements to form a unified whole.[1] Closely associated with technological advances in the 20th century, this technique is seen in the visual arts, film, architecture, and literature. In art, Pablo Picasso's Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912 (fig 1), combined Cubist elements with everyday materials like oilcloth. Films like Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925) used editing to create dynamic storytelling. Frank Lloyd Wright's Kaufmann House (Fallingwater) (1937) blended different materials in architecture, and in literature, T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land (1922) and James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) used collage through their mix of voices and references.[2]

Figure.1, Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning,
1912, oil on oilcloth over canvas edged with rope, 11 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches.

Its accessibility is rooted in the simplicity of materials, and can be used as a tool to critique the pervasive image saturation in contemporary society, questioning the dominance of advertisements and media. The idea that technology changes how we experience art is still important and, in a world full of images, can be a reminder to think critically about what is presented.

It embodies the coexistence of multiple, often contradictory systems within a single work, reflecting technological changes and the fragmented nature of modern existence, making it a defining quality of modernist art.

In 1943, Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery introduced the New York School to collage through a major exhibition. Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, Anne Ryan, and Esteban Vicente, were show cased with each artist bringing a unique perspective: Anne Ryan combined traditional formats with recycled materials, Esteban Vicente explored his cultural duality, Lee Krasner incorporated pastoral themes, and Robert Motherwell merged music and collage, all helping to lay the groundwork for core elements and concepts in postmodernist and contemporary art. (fig. 2).[3]

Fig 2, Robert Motherwell, Blue with China Ink—Homage to John Cage,

1946, ink, oil, and collage on paper, 40 x 31 in

Hans Hoffman encouraged students to paint from life, while Clement Greenberg's concept of the "pastoral mood" in painting focused on nature at rest and art in movement, representing a retreat from civilization and capitalism.[4] These ideas influenced Lee Krasner, who re-used old work and combined gestural elements with botanical imagery and modernist sensibilities in her work, drawing on influences from Picasso and Matisse. In works such as Blue Level (fig 3), Krasner used colouration and organic shapes that are nature inspired and in The City (fig 4), captured the discord of urban environments through bold compositions.[5]

Fig 3, Krasner, Lee. Blue Level. 1955. Oil, paper, and burlap collage on canvas,

208.9 x 147.3 cm

Fig 4, Lee Krasner, The City, 1953, Oil on Masonite, 121.9 x 91.4 cm.

Above all collage is democratic, allowing any material to be repurposed, with chance playing a key role in its early development. Jean Arp used random paper placement (fig. 5), and Jack Goldstein's The Chair (1975) involved feathers falling onto wet paint (fig. 6), reflecting on displacement and control.[6]

Figure 4. Jean Arp,

Selon les lois du hazard

(according to the laws of chance),

Figure 5. The Chair, 1975, Jack Goldstein, 16mm film, colour, silent, 5 minutes 1933, sugar paper on plyboard, 15.9 x 17.3 cm, Tate, London, UK.

The development of collage within Modernism, marked by experimentation, abstraction, and subjective experience, has been shaped by influential artists such as Braque and Schwitters (fig. 6), who pioneered the concept of constructed space.[7] Contemporary artists, such as Anna Witek, continue to explore this idea through architectural installations (fig. 7), demonstrating its enduring relevance and adaptability, perhaps it could be seen as a new sculpture.8 To carve space from transitory materials is relevant in this ecologically challenging time.

Figure 6. Kurt Schwitters, The Hanover Merzbau, 1933 (destroyed 1943), installation made with paper,

cardboard, plaster, glass, mirror, metal, wood, stone, painted materials, and electric lighting, 393 x 580 x 460 cm.

Figure 7. Anna Witek Reset (#3/S.O.S.), 2016, hand-printed analogue C-type, custom framed, 122 x 150 cm.

Earlier examples relating to constructed space and landscape include Ellsworth Kelly's postcards, (1960- 1980), (fig. 8), which blend simulated and real spaces to explore subjective experiences of landscapes. Similarly, Cornell’s shadow boxes, (fig. 9), filled with nostalgic objects, evoke memory and dreamscapes, reflect on the fragmented nature of recollection. If Cubist collage utilized a symbolic space, integrating real objects to alter its significance, ready-mades isolated objects, deriving meaning from their separation, often within the museum context.[9]

Ellsworth Kelly's postcards (1960-1980) (fig. 8) blur the lines between simulated and real space, treating the world as a ready-made.[10] Joseph Cornell's shadow boxes (fig. 9), stood as a precursor, blending elements of handcrafted, found and ready-made objects.

Figure 8. Ellsworth Kelly, 1974. Cul-de-Sac, Collage on postcard, 11 × 15 cm.

Figure 9. Joseph Cornell,

1956-1958. Untitled (Celestial Navigation), Box construction, 30.8 x 43.2 x 9.2 cm.

More recently digital tools expand collage possibilities further, allowing for precise manipulation and multimedia integration. For instance, artist Petra Cortright uses digital software to layer videos, images, and GIFs, creating vibrant, dynamic pieces that blend physical and virtual realities, (fig.10). Contemporary collage and painting are both influenced by this blending and fractured manipulation of digital space.

Figure 10, Petra Cortright, Celebrity addresses/fiji firing tour squad, 2017. Digital painting on anodized aluminium, 185.4 x 365.8 cm

Through these varied approaches, collage emerges as a versatile medium capable of engaging with complex ideas about space, meaning, and memory within the context of Modernist principles while also resonating with postmodernist ideals. Experimentation, abstraction, and subjective experience continue to drive artistic exploration. Postmodern and contemporary collage artists also incorporate elements of past styles while challenging traditional notions of form and authority.[11] By embracing fragmentation, pastiche, and irony, collage can reflect diverse perspectives and question fixed meanings, aligning with the fundamentals of postmodernism. This is marked by a diverse array of artistic movements and a rejection of grand narratives in favour of fluidity, plurality and ongoing dialogue with modern complexities.[12]

All these ideas can be found combined in the works of Los Angeles-based artist Sterling Ruby, whose collages represent creative experimentation, blending found images, sketches, and gestural smears of pigment, (fig 11)[13]

The philosophical notion of collage is vital to Ruby's practice, described by Ruby as "illicit mergers," where the collision of different elements, ideas, and materials creates a distinctive aesthetic mess, a signature of his visual language.[14] Despite their meticulous planning, Ruby's works possess an uplifting energy that shows spontaneity and randomness, reflecting the centrality of the studio process, materiality, and transformation. Everything in Ruby's studio, including scraps and cast-offs, is an opportunity to be remade, ensuring nothing goes to waste.

Figure 11, Sterling Ruby, Turbine, Imprecatory Psalms, 2023.

Acrylic, oil and cardboard on canvas, 251.1 x 327.3 x 8.3 cm

It could be argued that collage holds greater relevance in contemporary art than ever before. Many contemporary works draw inspiration from Surrealism, Dada, and Constructivism, imbuing the art form with a nostalgic charm. However, beyond this nostalgia, these references demonstrate how artists are reimagining the collage tradition to explore fresh avenues of creativity. In conjunction with new technologies, modern collage goes beyond just material manipulation; it represents a reinvention of concepts and intentions.

The edges of a collage carry significant meaning, symbolizing the transition from peripheral to central vision. How an artist manages these borders is crucial, shaping the artwork's appearance and meaning.

In his summary, Etgar emphasizes the significance of collage's spatial and material dimensions, highlighting the necessity of combining at least two distinct materials, which he describes as the "meeting between at least two foreign pieces of material."[15]

Whether through sewing, gluing, or painting over these junctions, or indeed blurring and merging in digital representation, the visible process of creation can challenge our perception of the artwork.

Some contemporary interpretations of these edges liken them to borders. Like real borders, they are impassable without identification.[16] Questions about how artists express their identity, who understands the artworks, and who validates them in the art world are pertinent in contemporary collage. As Scottish writer Ali Smith elucidates “Edges involve extremes. Edges are borders. Edges are very much about identity, about who you are. Crossing a border is not a simple thing. ... Edge is the difference between one thing and another. It’s the brink.”[17]

Footnotes

1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40243172.
2 Yuval Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art (London: Phaidon, April 11, 2023), 10.

3 Daniel Haxall, “Lee Krasner’s Pastoral Vision: Collage and the Nature of Order,” Woman’s Art Journal 28, no. 2 (Fall / Winter 2007): 20-27.

4 Budd Hopkins, "Modernism and the Collage Aesthetic”, New England Review (1990-) 18, no. 2 (Spring 1997): 5-12, published by Middlebury College Publications

5 Haxall, “Lee Krasner’s Pastoral Vision,” Woman’s Art Journal, 25.

6 Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art, 10.

7 Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art, 10.

8 Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art,

9 Jeff Perrone, "Robert Rauschenberg," Artforum, February 1977, 1, accessed June 7, 2024, https://www.artforum.com/features/robert-rauschenberg-2-209474/.

10 Barbara Purcell, "Ellsworth Kelly’s 'Postcards'," Salmagundi 218-219 (Spring-Summer 2023): 1.

11 Chaz T. G. Patto, "The Characteristics and Significance of the Postmodernism Art Movement," Art History Archive, accessed June 7, 2024, http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/essays/Characteristics-and-Significance- Postmodernism-Art-Movement.html.

12 Chaz Patto, "The Characteristics and Significance of the Postmodernism Art Movement," Art History Archive

13 Scott Indrisek, "Making Sense of Sterling Ruby’s Art," Artsy, Nov 1, 2019, accessed May 27, 2024,

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-making-sense-sterling-rubys-beautifully-grotesque-art.

14 Indrisek, "Making Sense of Sterling Ruby’s Art," Artsy, November 1, 2019.
15 Vitamin C, Phaidon Press Ltd, 2023

16 Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art

17 Etgar, Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Busch, Dennis, and Robert Klanten, eds. The Age of Collage Vol. 2: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art. Gestalten, 2016.

Etgar, Yuval. Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art. Phaidon, April 11, 2023.

Haxall, Daniel Louis. "Politics, Form, and Identity in Abstract Expressionist Collage." PhD diss., The Pennsylvania State University, College of Arts and Architecture, 2009.

Hopkins, Budd. "Modernism and the Collage Aesthetic." New England Review 18, no. 2 (Spring 1997): 5-12. Accessed May 16, 2024. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40243172

Hughes, Robert. Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays On Art And Artists. Penguin, February 27, 1992.

Illuminations. Art Now: Interviews with Modern Artists. Bloomsbury Academic, April 1, 2004. Introduction by Sandy Nairne.

Indrisek, Scott. "Making Sense of Sterling Ruby’s Art." Artsy, November 1, 2019. Accessed May 27, 2024. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-making-sense-sterling-rubys-beautifully-grotesque-art.

Morrill, Rebecca, ed. Vitamin C. Phaidon Press Ltd, 2023.

Nairne, Sandy. Introduction to Art Now: Interviews with Modern Artists, by Illuminations. Bloomsbury Academic, 2004.