Collage from Scratch

Pieces from the 2011 Project with Collage Fodder “made from scratch.”

Not that I wish to paint a dystopian picture for the future of collage, but we need to start thinking ahead.  We should be preparing for a world without collage — collage as we know it.

Like many mixed artists, I have at least one box with what I call collage fodder.  Over the years I’ve added things knowing I might use them some day. I use some of the contents and I even get rid of stuff as the direction of my work changes.  I am always on the look out for new material.  The problem is that there really is a finite amount of material.  Like fossil fuels, collage fodder won’t be around forever.

Yes, we still have years to go.  But I already see it happening.  As the world goes digital, the ticket stub, the postage stamp, the postcard, the map and even the printed photograph all seem to be vanishing.  I have pretty much just listed the contents of my collage fodder.

Last year, when I was working on the 2011 Project, most of the works were mixed media.  I was raiding my collage fodder boxes on a daily basis.  But I had instances where I did not have quite what I felt was needed.  I realized the easiest solution was to start making my own material, my own collage fodder.  The thought was to make art, with the idea it will be subsequently cut up and used in a collage.  Considering the labor-intensive nature of what I do, adding another step seemed a natural solution.

Earlier this year, as I was creating work for my installation Imagining Val Travel, I wanted to do a piece with the colorful luggage tags airlines used to use.  The ones that had airport codes in bold letters.  The problem was, I only had a handful of those tags.  The solution was to make 64 tags to be used in Frequent Flyer the piece shown below.

As things run out, we could scan and digitize material.  But I resist that “solution.” I really feel, for collage, the piece can be as much about the final texture as the images used.  Digital collages might be nice on a digital display, but for art in the real world, we have to get used to making collage fodder from scratch.

My Do-It-Yourself Art Book

Like many artists, I have a growing art library with hundreds of books. For most of us, it takes time. Art books are costly. Many of the books have been purchased used or on sale. Countless times, as I have exited through the gift shop, browsed the books at the museum and have had to exercise restraint. Not purchasing everything I want or even anything.

10 years ago I was on a whirlwind visit to London cramming in as many museum visits as possible — Everything from the old Tate, to the new Tate, to the National Portrait Gallery, etc. I bought a few books and saw so many more I wanted. And then there were the artists I discovered like John Wonnacott. I would have bought a book had one existed with his work. I had to satisfy myself with a few postcards from the museum shop. I bought quite a few postcards during that trip in lieu of art books.

The stack of postcards was growing when I returned home. I decided to buy a simple binder/photo album and began adding the postcards as I collected them. 10 years later my personal art reference book is nearly full and it will be time to start a second one. If I counted all the cards purchased for the book I might be a little shocked by the investment, but I don’t regret it.

Creating your own art book in this way is a way to save money and also add works to a book when a published book may not exist. It is also so much more. It is somewhat of a journal of art you have seen and appreciated. As you look back on it, you may even ask yourself, “Why did I select that one?” It is a record of your taste and how it may change over time. The only difficulty is when the gift shop has a paltry collection of postcards. And for the record, I would not recommend collecting coffee mugs instead of postcards.

Post-Vintage Postcard Booklets

A few years ago I bought a pile of vintage postcard booklets. As I was deciding what to do with them, I had the idea to start making my own postcard booklets. I did not intend to make booklets that would be printed and reproduced, but instead to make individual, hand-made postcard booklets. Perhaps as we run short of vintage materials we should all start making our own.

For this project I began with a few different prototypes. I experimented with various papers and other materials. I chose subject matter familiar to the old postcard booklets and started on a series of small paintings of mostly landscapes based on my frequent road trips around the Western U.S. After a couple of months I had created over 100 4”x6” paintings for this series. The final step was to sort the pieces and assemble them into eight hand-made postcard booklets. Further examples of the work can be seen at tofuart.com and some prints based on the work are also available.