Research Paper on "Art of Collage"

Research Paper 7 pages (2044 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Art of Collage

Collage refers to the art of expression that is created by pasting a variety of materials on a given surface. A collage artist may use materials such paper, sand, wood among other materials on a surface to produce the art. This paper seeks to discuss collage with specification to collage artists such as Michael Anderson. The paper will talk about Anderson and his particular collage arts such as 'the five deadly venom' and beyond bling. The paper will also be integrated with a number of other collage artists.

Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson is reported to have been born in the United States in the state of California and grew up in a number of places that includes Texas. According to one of his biographies, Anderson studied fine arts and has his works being felt in a number of countries across the globe. He attributes creativity to God and believes that every element ought to be refined from mediocrity to perfection. The wide distribution of his works can be attributed to the fact that he makes his works out of collections from diversified geographical regions (Michael, 1).

Michael Anderson is a sort of artist whose works include collage presentations. His works are based on capturing materials that are readily available through avenues such as advertisements. In his definition of collage, he illustrates the fact that the art is about recycling of materials in operations. Anderson makes his work to be diverse by having his materials of work from a variety of places around the globe. He is for instance reported to have been using materials from places such as Mexico, France, England, Italy, Germany and also his homeland, the United States. His work that is based on experience ensures an enriched art that borders abstract art to direct presentations. His works are also extended to the definition of collage with respect to the messages that he passes across in each work. He for example reiterated that his works illustrates "non linear narratives" that are based on real life experience (Oliver Clair, 1). He modifies common materials that are mostly collected from his locality to produce arts that are captivating to the general public. (Oliver Clair, 1).

A review of the work, the five deadly venoms, as produced by Anderson is by its definition a perfect collage. The representation covers a wide variety of contents, a characteristic of collage's multi-applications. There are for example a variety of individual artists that are represented in the work through their pictures in diversity. Each artist is for example representing different expression from the other. The art also contain a representation of individuals who are dressed in attires that are more like explorers to the universe as well as some dancers. Its background is also full of a collective mixture of different materials and of varying colors (Oliver Clair, 1).

The art as represented in 'the five deadly venoms' is also characterized with diversity in its own representation with respect to culture. One component of the work that represent hip hop musicians and other complementary artists such as dancers is associated with a culture that is identifiable to black Americans in the society. There is also a representation of a culture that is particularly associated with whites in America as portrayed by the in the same work. In general terms, the work is characterized by a mixed representation, not only on the materials used, but also in the message that the artist is trying to put across. Other works of the artist have similarly been characterized by the multi-representation of cultures that are exhibited through the content of his works. In the collage art called "Black music vs. Helvetica," presentations of "Jim Morrison and Philip Hoffman" together with "Martin Luther jr. And snoop dog" were presented under a symbol of peace that was portrayed by a dove (McLendon Matthew, 4). Again, the presentation offers a multicultural representation of diversity. He explained such works as being non-linear representation of stories that can adopt a number of narrations. Anderson himself associates his diversified works to the real life situation in which almost every aspect is seen to be changing over time. He for example related his works to the changes that are being realized in the media such as the television and the internet. The abstractness in his works also brings about a diversified opinion over the works by the audience. The five deadly venoms which made a presentation of men who are seen to desire women who are represented in the same work for instance enlisted mixed reactions with a set of thought claiming that the work undermined women. This claim was based on the fact that sexual desires were elements of the presentation. He however illustrated a different meaning to his work which he accredited to the beauty of women. At the same time, he reiterated the fact that there were some women who occasionally seek sexual pleasure in associations and quits once their desires have been met. The different understandings of the works would thus be a collection of possible ideas that the artist incorporated in his collage. His works have also been likened to the art of hip hop in which a number of elements are brought together to make presentations. One of the similarity in his works and the hip hop culture is the variety of musical elements that the Djs bring together so as to make the music a successful output. The hip hop culture of street attitudes as exhibited by the artist also bears a close relationship to the works of Anderson due to the fact that the streets, through street advertisements, forms the basis of Anderson's collage work. Some of his works are also primarily based on hip hop artists. The diversity in hip hop can also thus be used to illustrate the combinatory representations in the mosaic works of Michael Anderson (McLendon Matthew, 1- 6).

Criticisms over Michael Anderson

Michael is reported to be making his collection of materials at night, a fact that can raise eyebrows over reasons as to why the artist does not prefer day time operations. This is because operations undertaken at night are traditionally considered to be dangerous together with the fact that they might not be completely associated with transparency. This lack of transparency by Anderson is also reflected by the fact that he conceals information about himself. He is for example reported not to be quiet open with respect to his birth place. He is at the same time portrayed as an optimistic individual who does not yield to negative opinions that might distract his momentum in creating his artistic works. He is for example reported to have "shut down a pessimistic discussion" that opposed to production of other classes of paintings (Huffpost, 1). This approach to controlling the discussion also exposes the artist as an arrogant individual who lacks better approaches to controlling people in a discussion forum through influence (Huffpost, 1).

Anderson also personally affirms to the fact that the neighborhood in which he works is not a safe place. The location of his studio which he identifies as "Harlem 133rd and Fredrick Douglas Blvd" is considered to be the most dangerous in the region. He tells of incidents of murders that have in the past been realized in the area and the presence of organized gangs that terrorize with the use of weapons and yet he still moves around at night in the search for his materials. This can raise questions as to why he does not fear the gangs whose existence he acknowledges. He thus becomes his own critique and further establishes ground for external criticism. An argument from a social perspective would for example associate Anderson with the gang that is reported to have been terrorizing people in the areas from the fact that he walks at night but has never been a victim of the gangs. He can for example be thought of as having relations with these gangs who as a result, do not attack him as he move at night to collect his materials (Anderson Michael, 1).

Collage: a general perspective

Collage as an art entails creating connectivity between subjects by placing them close to each other. The side by side placement brings about a meaning to the relationships which can then be easily identified. It is actually argued that collage forms a good avenue for communicating such relationship due to the offered ability to "express speculative, contingent, and informal relationships" (Bemstein Mark, 1). Contrary to the flat written presentations of information in the print media, collage uses space for reasoning in order to make a presentation of information in a more captivating manner. This makes communication more attractive and facilitates the passage of information (Bemstein Mark, 1).

The international labor organization on the other hand defines collage as a collection of "photos, images and occasionally bits of texts" that are retrieved from different sources and pasted together in order to… READ MORE

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