Collaging how to - update

! love using this with classes as its instanteous art, its a quick way for people to make their own visions, its always 'unique and original' (people are very hung up about 'being original') and is FUN!

1. Get a stash of magazines/brochures/catalogues/newspapers A variety of starting media is best. If doing in a group at least 1 1/2 to 2 times magazines per person.

2. Get a A3 or bigger base sheet - using the back of cheap wall paper is good. If not IMPROVISE! tear out magazine pages and tape into a backing sheet eg 3 x 5 magazine sheets make a large basis to work on. (This also results in more 'happy accidents' in the final collage.)

3. Give yourself a timelimit of 10-15 mins to flip quickly through the magazines. Each time you see an arresting image or word or headline tear it out and put in a pile. No sissors !* (If you see an article which you simply must read. Don't but tear it out so you can read it later - so you are not depriving yourself - creativity students have major deprivation issues).

4. Then give yourself 10-15 mins to paste down your images quickly onto the backing sheet. No sissors - if you want part of an image tear around it.* Use a glue stick as the least messy alternative. Again the quicker you do it with out over thinking the results the more interesting it will be.

5. When finished I like to play 'Private View' if I've been doing my collage in company and we go around admiring each one.

6. Contemplation - I find its best to put the collage up someplace you can see it near a desk or in a bedroom so you can look at it at leisure. They often have surprising insights into your current foibles, obsessions, and interests.

Some people encourage the use of collaging to make 'Treasure Maps' or 'Vision Boards' which are more like visiual shopping lists of loot that they want into their lives. 'Stuff' doesn't have that much impact on people's happiness - what I find more interesting is that 'states' or 'qualities' are called up by the collage. For example in the post below one collage has a great big pink finger up to the world - as the creator works in a difficult part of the voluntary sector where her important work is not properly funded its not surprising she chose this image. This does not of course mean that she's going to manifest a large pink finger to put up against those with funding but perhaps expressing her feelings will help to find other ways of working. Another student might make a collage with a riot of colour in it. Again literally speaking this might be more to do with wanting to live a more 'colourful life' rather than redecorating en mass. The meaning of the collage definately is something that emerges over contemplation.


*I've found it helpful to ban sissors as I've had people sit for 5 mins cutting out something 'perfectly'. Squishing perfectionism is one of the delightful by products of collaging.