Exercise 6:​ ‘Cut-Ups’

Brief

Take a recent copy of a newspaper. If you want to experiment with cut-up images then a daily tabloid with lots of pictures like ‘The Mirror’ or ‘Metro’ might be best, but if you want to experiment with text then a broadsheet like ‘The Guardian’ or ‘The Times’ might work better.

• Using a pair of scissors or a craft knife, start to cut up some newspaper pages in various ways. For example, cut one page in half horizontally, one vertically and another page into four quarters.

• Continue until you have a number of differently-sized squares and rectangles of paper.
•  Now simply begin to place them next to each other, in columns or in strips. If they are pictures, try out how they sit above or below each other. Are there light or dark areas that meet, or two landscapes that overlap to create a new hybrid picture? Perhaps photographs of two people can be put next to each other to create a new face or body. Take some time to experiment; perhaps two headlines cut in half can be combined to create a new story.
• Keep experimenting until you have 5 cut-up collages that either spell out new phrases and texts or new composite images.
• Scan or take photographs of your finished cut-ups and upload them to your learning log. Remember to document and reflect on the process and the outcome of the exercise.

OCA Visual Skills 2: Visual Exploration p62

To get started on this project, I went to my local supermarket and purchased a few newspapers. First, I went through each newspaper to see if there were any words or images that stood out.

The first thing that caught my eye were two images of men who were arrested for robbery, and another image of police arresting a protester. I thought it would be fun to make a new narrative by rearranging the elements and incorporating text from other parts of the newspapers. The first collage I created is pictured below.

The image I hope now shows a new narrative which is a young man being arrested for something he did but maybe didn’t want to do but was put in a position he felt he had no alternative. In the left is a picture of a little girl holding on to the words ‘Dad go and do the things you said you’d do‘ and ‘I think we will eventually live together‘ this showing that she wanted her dad to succeed and will be waiting for him.

The next collage I created is shown below. I was quite surprised and excited at all the elements I found for this one.

In the background, there is an image of nurses and doctors. This was originally a theatre advertisement, but I changed the person on the table to a young girl who had been injured during the Ukraine war. Following that, I discovered images of Vladimir Putin’s face, Joe Biden dressed as the devil, and a magician’s body with Donald Trump’s face. I then put these pieces together to raise awareness of what is going on in Ukraine and to highlight the public figures who are causing torture to others.  Other added elements are the words ‘This must end’,’Terrorist’, ‘Policing free speech’, and ‘The puppet master’.

Mathew Perry sadly died recently, and there was a small article about him, so I decided to create the next collage with him in mind. First, I created an acrylic background with soft colours at the top to represent happiness and black at the bottom to represent death. The words Salute and fallen were originally intended for a Poppy Day article. However, I changed it to Salute Fallen celeb and found additional text and imagery in another piece of paper to complete the collage.

Going through the papers repeatedly started to become difficult for ideas until I saw a photo of a man doing crazy stunts in the water. On the next page in an ‘Agony Aunt’ column the words read I’m terrified of everything. It made me laugh at the idea of combining these words and pictures because it was so ironic.

Finally, I discovered a photo of Britney Spears when she shaved her hair because she was depressed. On another page, I read an article about menopause, and I know that many women during menopause suffer from depression. As a result, I attempted to reassemble these elements in order to tell a new story about the effects of menopause while also injecting a little humour about killing my husband.

Reflection

To be honest, I have never enjoyed doing collage work; it has never caught my interest. However, I found this enjoyable because I was attempting to create new narratives from old material.

I’ve realised now that approaching a creative task with a different mindset can completely transform my experience with an exercise, and I’m glad I spent some time playing and exploring.

By completing this exercise, I discovered a way to express ideas and narratives in ways I would never normally work. It’s fascinating how the process of reinterpreting and repurposing old materials can spark new ideas. However, I am aware that some of the topics I have discussed are sensitive, and it would never be my intention to upset people but only to raise awareness on a matter.

In the future I will try and not disregard collage work and keep more of an open mind when creating new work.