Layers in Transition: the Collage Approach
Text by
Sasha Souther, PhD
10 February, 2022
Livingston, USA
Sasha Souther, PhD
10 February, 2022
Livingston, USA
Most of the times we debate on what should be recognized as art, some of the non-professional opponents often point out the most common thought… An artist must be able to draw or paint, so by that a piece of art can be spotted.
But is it really that important after Marcel Duchamp's readymade invention? I sure doubt it. Today we see millions of talented artists who demonstrate great accomplishments in the area of performance art, installation, robotics and etc. Their creative methods have nothing to do with the ability of being able draw: they just need to combine certain elements to make a piece. This way the field of the artistic toolbox of creative approach, representation strategies and medium choice becomes much wider…
But is it really that important after Marcel Duchamp's readymade invention? I sure doubt it. Today we see millions of talented artists who demonstrate great accomplishments in the area of performance art, installation, robotics and etc. Their creative methods have nothing to do with the ability of being able draw: they just need to combine certain elements to make a piece. This way the field of the artistic toolbox of creative approach, representation strategies and medium choice becomes much wider…
Collage is one of those practices that does not need to really involve this "proper drawing" anachronism. Thanks to the Surrealist and Dada artists collage became an important media art wise. On the one hand, it may seem as an easy way to create a visual piece. On the other, this complex approach is a pure reflection of the visually-clipped environment we are living in today. Of course, collage aesthetics slightly argues with Walter Benjamin's conception of aura. The philosopher made it clear that his concept may be applied only to those art pieces that were created in a single copy and without the use of new media (handcrafted, or live performed). But today we have a much more fitting concept of atmosphere which Gernot Böhme described in his research.
This particular concept understands that every piece of art, even the new media ones, has a unique atmosphere with which the viewer interacts while admiring a piece. That means that collage is a fully developed practice that is not only recognized among the artists, but also among theorists, since we have a philosophical concept, the practice fits. Here I would like to make an overview of artists who work with collage or use this aesthetics in their oeuvre.
This particular concept understands that every piece of art, even the new media ones, has a unique atmosphere with which the viewer interacts while admiring a piece. That means that collage is a fully developed practice that is not only recognized among the artists, but also among theorists, since we have a philosophical concept, the practice fits. Here I would like to make an overview of artists who work with collage or use this aesthetics in their oeuvre.
The "Shining" (2022) by Daria Khasaia and Galina Shevchenko presents us a concept of a "cold beauty". We see an unsent letter, written by one of the artists to her beloved in the background of the piece. To underline that emotional coolness the artistic duo uses torn-out imagery that represents visual cliches of beauty and emotionless in popular culture. This objectification of feelings creates a multilayer composition that we – the spectators need to decipher for ourselves. That open piece offers us an intimate dialogue that may interfere with the personal experience of each viewer.
Daria Khasaia and Galina Shevchenko "Shining", 2022. Mixed media collage
It is quite interesting how the collage practice evolves from a simple clipping arrangement to something more complicated. Elena Reznikova is an artist, who likes to synthesize blueprints with watercolors. You may think she simply colors the architectural layouts as if they were in a children's book, but she creates more complicated compositions. The combination of strict architectural forms with cool colors are presented as separate "coatings" combined in a collage form. We see the monochrome rigidly structured layouts in the background and a splash of color in the foreground. This way the artist creates a unique space where logic drowns in "poured out" watercolor emotions.
Elena Reznikova "Get a kick out of it", 2021. Digital collage: watercolor on glass and drawings
Elena Reznikova "Thoughts flying", 2021. Digital collage: watercolor and drawings)
Nailia Kublashvili "Peaceful morning in London", 2020. Collage
For Nailia Kublashvili collage is a way to interact with the perception of reality. Her work named "Peaceful Morning in London" from "A Beautiful Contradiction" (2020) series demonstrates us several layers, each of which we see as a fragment. She explores multiple identities that are present in every individual. "The infinite, deep, enveloping world of emotions captures my imagination and makes me wonder who I truly am." – says the artist.
What we see here is an influence of the Moscow Conceptualism artists, Victor Pivovarov in particular, who used such fragmented method in his graphic work to explore his inner world. In Kublashvili's case we see bright high key colors mixed with monochromatic layers of rice paper. This way the artist visually stresses the clash and dissonance of those inner personalities that she studies.
Three artists mentioned in the above create handmade collages, which makes their approach a little bit closer to Benjamin's aura. But the following ahead artists work with photography that in the philosopher's understanding was a pure example of the "work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction". So, let us see how they apply collage aesthetics there.
What we see here is an influence of the Moscow Conceptualism artists, Victor Pivovarov in particular, who used such fragmented method in his graphic work to explore his inner world. In Kublashvili's case we see bright high key colors mixed with monochromatic layers of rice paper. This way the artist visually stresses the clash and dissonance of those inner personalities that she studies.
Three artists mentioned in the above create handmade collages, which makes their approach a little bit closer to Benjamin's aura. But the following ahead artists work with photography that in the philosopher's understanding was a pure example of the "work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction". So, let us see how they apply collage aesthetics there.
Photographer Anna Bobkova started her practice when she turned 18. At first, she was capturing images of European cities. The artist depicted what seemed most important, and it was the feeling that a location enveloped her. Today Bobkova evolved into an established photography artist, who has her own recognizable style. Here I would like to mention her series "Light". These photographs demonstrate us how the proper lighting is able to create a visual collage. When you take a first glance at these pieces, you start thinking that there was some sort of a glitch or a technical issue (when the photo has been taken). But when you take a closer look, you understand that all the roughness was gently planted by Bobkova into those images. All of the photographs have a multilayer composition, which is typical for collage, there is no direct focal point: each foreground has something of its own. I can assume, that every picture is a Barthe's punctum that pinches our inner senses.
Anna Bobkova "Awakened", 2016. Photograph
Anna Bobkova "January", 2017. Photograph
Renowned artist Lesya Bukaytis has always been passionate about photography since she was a child. Architecture became the artist's favorite model during the years of her practice. It is typical for Bukaytis to work with textures, lightning, search for balance between elements, highlight small details.
Her piece "Strings of Time" (2011) is a black and white photograph. We see how the artist masterfully manages the enfilade of spaces she depicts. In the center of her composition the artist punts a tree trunk, which is the focal point of that image. In this piece we see that Bukaytis was obviously influenced by René Magritte, who liked to create artworks where an image is situated inside another image. From that we can make a conclusion that this is how Lesya Bukaytis plants collage aesthetics into photography: visual fragments create a single composition, where each of them becomes a frame for another.
Her piece "Strings of Time" (2011) is a black and white photograph. We see how the artist masterfully manages the enfilade of spaces she depicts. In the center of her composition the artist punts a tree trunk, which is the focal point of that image. In this piece we see that Bukaytis was obviously influenced by René Magritte, who liked to create artworks where an image is situated inside another image. From that we can make a conclusion that this is how Lesya Bukaytis plants collage aesthetics into photography: visual fragments create a single composition, where each of them becomes a frame for another.
Lesya Bukaytis "Strings of Time", 2011. Photograph
Lina Smal "Screenshot", 2022. Photograph
Image artist Lina Smal has some Magritte-like motives in her works as well. Being also a producer and an art director, she invites a team of professionals in order to develop a piece (very collage-like method, don't you think?). As a person, who is interested in emotions, Smal manages to transfer them into the pictures she produces. Every image her team makes can be characterized as punctum, due to the attempt of Smal to transfer her emotional state to the spectator.
Her poetic piece "Screenshot" (2021) plays with the multiscreen reality we live in. Red sfumato in the foreground become an aggressive center of the composition, but only if we look briefly at the work. The moment one's eye starts slowly studying this photograph, lots of details reveal themselves. Layer by layer the viewer discovers important elements that the artist playfully inserted in her visual collage.
Her poetic piece "Screenshot" (2021) plays with the multiscreen reality we live in. Red sfumato in the foreground become an aggressive center of the composition, but only if we look briefly at the work. The moment one's eye starts slowly studying this photograph, lots of details reveal themselves. Layer by layer the viewer discovers important elements that the artist playfully inserted in her visual collage.
To line up this long collage monologue I can say that a real artist is able to create a piece from anything he/she finds a suitable element of a future work. So, if we stop sticking labels on what art should be, our horizons as spectators will broaden and provide us much more interesting visual feed layer by layer.
Collage itself gives us the "layer" reference as the most common one when we analyze such piece (this word is also very popular in this particular text), or a collage-inspired work. This way we can trace the transformation of how the physical, handmade layers in the collage body transformed into the imagery illusions in photography that relies on collage as if it is its older sibling.
Collage itself gives us the "layer" reference as the most common one when we analyze such piece (this word is also very popular in this particular text), or a collage-inspired work. This way we can trace the transformation of how the physical, handmade layers in the collage body transformed into the imagery illusions in photography that relies on collage as if it is its older sibling.
Text by
Sasha Souther, PhD
10 February, 2022
Livingston, USA
Sasha Souther, PhD
10 February, 2022
Livingston, USA
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