The Art of Assemblage and Sharing the Love of It! plus Artifacts and Alchemy #2

My friend Marti Lameti asked me to step into her class and share my {love} of Assemblage sculpture work.  This is dangerous, as I can talk about it for hours and show 10 ways to put any two pieces of seemingly unrelated junk together with the amazing products and processes that are available.

 

 

I only had 2.5 hours and most of that time needed to be spent letting the students build a self portrait sculpture out of a pile of stuff I brought augmented by scraps from the OHS art room, so I elected to be short and sweet with the information, giving plenty of time for the students to work on their own while strolling around the tables giving suggestions on how to get the pile of {precious} stuff to stay together.  Also, Marti asked me to talk about how I got here to assemblage, how I work, and the importance of the "story" and personal connection to the self-portrait.

 

Artifacts and Alchemy was {satisfied} this week by donating artifacts to the cause and the alchemy of interaction with students and sharing of information on what I've {learned}.

 

This was a very focused group and a true pleasure to work with, as they wanted to get right to work, but listened (and asked questions) to my short speech about myself (yikes!) and some suggestions on working with "stuff" as a process.

 

The very first "official" museum recognition of assemblage as an art form in the USA was in 1961.  Before that, even as early as 1913 people who were considered artists were taking everyday materials around them and incorporating them into their art. 

{I believe}, honestly, that people grow in emotional attachments to things and so, I believe that assemblage is part of our human nature, our history, our "way" as humans.  Assemblage has always been an art form.  We "assemble" our living spaces and the clothes we prefer wearing and the little display in the bathroom for our guests to {admire} while they wash their hands.  We serve dinner to guests on the special dishes for guests and they (the dishes) match the tablecloth and include our grandmother's silverware.  We love presentation and delight in textures and recall memories of childhood from the smell of bread, or paint, or lilacs.

We take {comfort} in everyday things and we have always made art out of them. We have buried loved ones with them or passed them on as heirlooms. 

They are alive with energy from being created and used and {loved}.