Collage

This week’s reading is an extract from David Shields’ Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. Shields expresses his fondness for the collage as a mode for conveying an artistic idea. This extract is almost a collage in itself as it contains significant ideas and does not to obviously link to the statements made before or after.

The compelling concept of collage allows an artist to link fragments that do not normally fit together. These numerous parts form in to one meaning for one viewer, but will result in a completely different outcome for another viewer. These bits all contribute to the collage, sometimes referred to as a mosaic. Shields refers to the ‘law of mosaics: how to deal with parts in the absence of wholes’ (2011).

Shields refers to Coleridge who believes the primary imagination is ‘a continuing process… in creative perception… of all human minds’ where as the secondary imagination is a repetition of the creative process that results in mosaic-like products that are composed of existing parts.

The plot driven narrative comprises of the presentation of a problem and a resolution to that problem. This implies that life is the same, that everything happens for a reason and results in a neat conclusion. Shields explains that this mode is a misrepresentation of life as this is not the case at all. This idea should be denied as should the novel ‘the novel is dead. Long live the antinovel, built from scraps’ (Shields, 2011). The collage is to be considered as an ‘evolution beyond narrative’.

Shields encourages the filmmaker to consider the audience as active in drawing meaning from the work. Leaving gaps in the plot allows the viewer space to interpret all of the fragments. The montage with reference to Lev Kuleshov’s experiment is a reminder of an audience’s ability to form meaning from a series of juxtaposed shots (forming relationships) that would not mean the same if shown individually.

Traditional novels are ‘predictable’ in their narrative structure, but uncertain in what they’re alluding to. Renata Adler’s ‘Speed Boat’ is viewed favourably for it’s use of collage that subtly reveals a concept through it’s culmination of parts. A writer should not be concerned about their concept transcending to their audience, but concentrate on what they are interested in as this allows excitement which is far more beneficial for the reader.

Artists should not make art, they should discover it and organise the material in a way that forms a significant meaning. All parts within a collage are important which is similar to shots within a film. Editing is considered a ‘key postmodern artistic instrument’ that selects certain sections and arranges them (2011). This can be applied to collage. The two types of filmmaking are identified through Hitchock, whose films are meticulously planned film and Coppola, whose films develop as they are made.

Shields describes ‘the purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known’ (2011). This relates to a collage artist who connects the audience and the work without the use of time.