Collage Project

I chose elements from the past to show how art, architecture, and other things play a role in history.  History is ongoing which is why the world map depicts mostly present day events.  The “message” of the collage is to show a lot of good things in the world, but subtly show a messed up world that is in need of help.  The world is in sin and death, and lacks a Godly direction, which is why Christ offers a hand.

Color: The items from the past are black and white images (what we think of when we look back in time). There is gradually more color sprouting off of these images, until you get to the right portion, which is almost all color images from our present time.

 Light: A large white portion in the bottom right balances a large dark area in the bottom left. The white portion connects to the white “ocean” space in the upper left section. This portion balances the dark areas to its right. 

 Texture: I created actual texture with folded notebook paper and instead of cutting each image, I tore the image out from the magazine creating rough-textured edges.

 Volume: Many of the images including the island head and statue of Christ show much volume with dark rounded edges.  Also the torn out images against the background can also seem like they have darker rounded edges.

 Line: In one case there is a diagonal that is formed from bottom left (up the statue of liberty) to top right up the arm of Christ.  But there is also a strong white diagonal from left bottom to top right.  This creates a sort of X shape.  The dotted lines from paper planes direct you across the world map. The camera lens underneath Christ is also focusing on Christ.

 Space: The illusion of depth can be seen in the images in perspective such as the statue of liberty, Christ, cruise ship, and the island head.  The background is created with notebook paper and the foreground is the images themselves.  Actual depth is created with the folded notebook paper. 

 Scale: The island head is largest because it is the oldest and so somewhat the most historical image. The statue of liberty is large both because I am an American, and also because of its importance in creating an implied line and triangle with the folded notebook paper.  The size of the statue heads and furniture are small mostly because they are not important but still add a feeling of the past. 

 Symbolism:  There is a lot of symbolism.  The train is a symbol for my hometown of El Paso, which was founded because of a railroad crossing.  The letters E and P serve as an school/community abbreviation for my hometown.  The clock and skulls in the bottom left portion symbolize our brief lifetime on earth.  The world map is created using images of conflict, disaster, terrorism, and aggression.  The clock by Christ gives even more importance to time for Christians and the world.  Christ poses for ever-lasting LIFE magazine.

 You: I am interested in history.  I enjoy playing the piano (the image is an organ but same difference). I enjoy music and listening to music on my iPod, and I like maps. I also like to be aware of what is happening around the world.

 Friends and Family:  My friends and I spent our free time making movies on any camcorder we could find.  The old man positioned next to the Statue of Liberty reminds me of how my grandpa dresses.

 My town, community, school: The train is a symbol for my hometown of El Paso, which was founded because of a railroad crossing.  The letters E and P serve as an school/community abbreviation for my hometown.

 The world today:  Is messed up.            

The world is created using images of everything bad that goes on in the world.  The bottom and right side of the collage are many of the things in this world that are good; human progress, interest, entertainment, vacation.  I like these things, but a lot of messed up stuff still happens and sometimes seem to outweigh anything good.  This is why all arrows point to Jesus, because who cares about the rest of the crap!  Repent, Do Work, Praise God, Get Outta Here.

 Your Country:  

My country is depicted in the map and is also acknowledged in the Statue of Liberty and the train, which has American flags on it.

 Art:  

My initial and possibly most substantial draw to art is whether it is visually pleasing or not…..my collage may not be…and in my opinion isn’t...sorry ha.  Art can be used for many more than pleasing viewers though.  I think art is very efficient at communicating ideas and spreading knowledge that would be dull in written form.  Many of us are visual learners, so images are important for education or communicating meaning to an audience. 

 History: 

Understanding history helps me understand where I am positioned on the time line.  It orients me and in some cases teaches me how to live or how not to live, or what I am able to achieve, and what I am not yet able to achieve.