Exercise 2: Montage, Making and Meaning

For this task we were asked to choose one or two current affairs, or news items as a starting point for creating outcomes or a series of experiments using montage, collage, cut and paste, sampling or mashups, using this as an opportunity to edit, layer, juxtapose elements with each other. Explore three different approaches and then try a fourth piece to generate fresh ideas.

Montages -

For this task I began initially with experimenting with collaging with different newspapers, sorting through them and pulling out articles that I felt were thought provoking and in theme with the aforementioned themes in Exercise 1, and then pulling out the colourful segments of fashion and advertisements to use as a juxtaposition.

Below is a video of the process -

When composing the first collage, I decided to take all of the segments I found surrounding childhood traumas, a demonstration of the epidemic we have been experiencing for too long and poured out into papers. The reality was that afterwards, it felt like adding colour or segments from fashion and advertisement would be too inappropriate and frankly, this theme needed to be represented by the dull and harsh colours of buff, black, white and red. I chose to draw some of the victims faces and water wash them in colours, a nod towards their innocence, the danger they were in, the warmth they were deprived of, the cowardly acts of their perpetrators, the disgust felt socially and finally their stolen youths.

At this point I was still struggling to see how I could elevate the collage. So I went back through the newspapers and magazines for some inspiration and found very little, apart from a small cut out that said 'Nobody is looking' in a bold pink, with a blue eye.

I added this but felt that it was drowned out by the other elements of the collage. If it were larger or even painted over the top of the collage it may have stuck a cord, and highlighted the fact that in a handful of newspapers, we are flooded with tragic stories, with seemingly very little resolution. The final piece still didn't strike much of an response for me. So I thought I would attempt a digital edit over the top of the collage. See below -

I also didn't like this edit, it felt rushed and it didn't really juxtapose the same was I'd aimed for. I colour matched the green and red from the watercolour washes, I then felt that honing in on the bold text, of plague, tradey, hurting, death, nothing, would at least break the collage down again. I decided to do this, until the sketch of the victims were left in a see of black, with the articles and colours seeping into their profiles. It still didnt feel complete, but I felt that I needed to explore some different methods before returning back to this one and re-configuring it.

So I followed the same procedure, of sorting through the newspaper and magazine articles, pulling out. trauma stories and juxtaposing this with fashion segments and colours. I felt this series was more successful.

I decided to take three seperate stories, and to assign them the the colour they were given in the newspaper/magazine. The first colour was buff, white and black, the second blues, and the final red/pink. I dissected the articles pulling out the words in which I felt could be used to juxtapose. I then collated these with models, and emotions which were also assigned those colours. Each piece once broken down is conflicting and demonstrates the process of trauma to healing in some manner, below is an explanation for the colour compositions.

The Buff, White and Black -

Buff is a colour that is historically associated with fighting. It is used for military uniforms and is commonly used in newspapers. White, is linked with light, and has deep roots to the human psyche, it can both inspire and instil terror. Its an exclusive colour, and anything added to white only darkens it, its associated with purity, the divine, money, power, positivity. It is also associated heavily with religions, cleanliness, it's a clinical shade, used heavily in fashion, architecture, and in medical facilities.

Black, much like white, is an exclusive shade, its expansive and durable, often associated with mourning, complications, endings, beginnings, night, a canvas for light and colour.

The Cobalt Blue -

Cobalt blue was a shade of blue created as a substitute for ultramarine, a pigment used in the 17th century. There was a case of artistic forgery involving Han Van Meegeren, who reproduced Vermeer paintings, his only real slip up was that he used cobalt blue, which at the time of a Vermeer painting would not have existed. After being convicted, Meegeren was sentenced to only one year in prison, lasting only 1 month before passing away.

Blue is usually associated with stability, royalty, calmness, tranquility and energy.

Interestingly the word Cobalt originates from the German word "Kobold," associated with demon, evil spirit, goblin.

Pink -

So for the pink.. I focused mainly on one shade, 'Baker-miller pink' because the history of this shade is fascinating. It's a very soft pink, and very similar to the background of the collage above. It's been known to have calming effects, reducing aggression in prisons and reducing hostile behaviours. Conflictingly, its also known for increased anxiety and aggression after overexposure. \

Pink is often associated with youth, good health, love, innocence, romance and sweetness. It's also associated with inexperienced, being overly emotional, tender and weakness. Its a lesser version of red, often associated with strength, passion, danger etc.

After creating these three collages, which I prefered to the first collage, I decided to also digitalist them, and white a segment of each of the colours over the top.

I do not think the digital edits added anything to the pieces. Maybe audio over the top would have worked better, or adding some form of motion to the words, or a transition from beginning to end. This is something I can explore further.

I further continued exploring montages with the two below. I decided to use more textures and colours against portraits. Focusing on the same themes as above.

Which the below collage I chose to set a textured background, cut the portrait of MC in half, so that I could explore words and flowers expanding from the centre. Juxtaposed with the words 'tore family apart' I chose to use dried flowers as a nod to the length of time this particular story has haunted the media and lives of the people involved. Below are a few different compositions, just to explore which layouts seemed the better. I think if I were to recreate this I would attempt it with better quality printouts, a softer and more refined background and a fuller array of flowers. Maybe with a video of a decayed flower falling over the top of the collage.

Below is possibly the better collage of them all. I chose this time instead of working with articles on victims, I would work with the articles and features of the people responsible. The media tends to romanticise and glorify the lives and stories of people who have wronged, in this case I wanted to do the opposite. I wanted to explore a method that challenged their personas. I chose two prolific people, and took their facies and placed them on the bodies of two mascots associated with children's events. I used the words 'A monster' to juxtapose their identities.

Research -

• Robert Rauschenberg – Pop Art (1960s) Rauschenberg’s used photographs from books, magazines, and newspapers, layering them with paint to create hybrid collages. Rauschenberg demonstrates how combining different sources can generate new narratives.

• John Baldessari – Conceptual Art, Pop Art Baldessari mixed imagery with references to art history, pairing text with image. His playful and critical approach is central to collage practice, encouraging the re-use of cultural material in order to expose hidden assumptions. Baldessari opens up ways to question not just what images show, but also how we read and interpret them.

• Man Ray – Surrealism and Dada (early 20th century) Man Ray experimented with photography, painting, film, and collage to produce surreal and dreamlike imagery. He used humour and juxtapositions. His Dadaist approach shows how collage can destabilise meaning by bringing together unrelated objects and images, creating something uncanny. His work highlights the ability to tap into the unconscious and disrupt logical associations.

• Henri Matisse – Fauvism and Cut-Outs (1940s) Matisse pioneered his cut-out technique using scissors to create bold, simplified shapes in vibrant colours. Matisses' form, pattern, and rhythm, demonstrates how composition, scale, and colour relationships can be explored through cutting and layering.

• Martha Rosler – Contemporary and Feminist Art Rosler’s photomontages challenge social injustice, war, and gender inequality, often using domestic imagery with scenes of war. Her work demonstrates cutting and pasting to expose contradictions in media and culture. Rosler reveals how collage can confront audiences with uncomfortable truths while also using irony and humour to amplify critique.

• Barbara Kruger – Feminist Art (1970s onwards) Kruger is known for bold black-and-white photographic collages overlaid with text. She addresses power dynamics, gender, and consumer culture. Her work shows how the combination of image and text in collage can generate messages. Kruger demonstrates how graphics and texts can be powerful in communicating ideas.

• Aleksandr Rodchenko – Constructivism (1920s) Rodchenko explored how images and objects could be organised in space. His photomontages used bold geometric compositions and strong contrasts to convey movement and energy. Rodchenko shows how placement, structure, and design principles can control the impact of a composition, making collages feel dynamic.

• Peter Kennard – Political Collage (1970s–1990s) Kennard’s photomontages address themes of war, economic inequality, and violence including police brutality. He used collage to create visual protests that circulated widely in activist contexts. Kennard demonstrates collages activist potential, offering strategies in producing politically charged artworks.

References -

Walker, S. (2022) Top 25 Collage Artists in the World: A Complete Survey, Contemporary Art Issue, 29 March. Available at: https://www.contemporaryartissue.com/top-25-collage-artists-in-the-world-a-complete-survey/ (Accessed: 2nd August 2025).

St Clair, K. (2016) The Secret Lives of Colour.

Tate. Photomontage, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/photomontage (Accessed: 7 August 2025).