Exercise: 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 photographs 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.

Cut-ups

Evaluation

This exercise was really difficult to do, I'm not very good at collaging in general and so I tried doing it the ways that the brief suggested to. I looked into creating new bodies, changing up context of articles-- but near the end I just tried to have fun with it.

For the first image, I decided to do a simple one of changing up a body, using two cut-outs and added a little humour with adding a bottle of wine to carry in her arms (making it look like she was running).

For the second image, I went a bit political and used several cutouts to create an 'statement' illustration, with a politician with his head shooting up (done by a bottle opening, and a silver dress cutout for special effects) with an added bit of commentary.

For the third image, a very political illustration about the cost of living, originally a single comic showing 'Labour round the corner' now showing an article of this so-called improvement to the cost of living crisis.

The fourth, is an attempt at showing that the media is over-consuming and damaging the real reality and not so-called reality TV the ad for Sky TV in the background with some texture for another add-- meant to be there to be abstract. However, the idea has fallen flat and it looks awful, there's nothing substantial to show and it's a poorly executed idea.

The last collage was me grabbing at straws, I just had fun with adjusting people's faces onto a piece of paper in a humorous way.

I really struggled with this exercise, but with the next time I collage I'm going to really push myself to try out different collaging techniques. What to take away from this exercise, it that sometimes generation of ideas from 'chance' (something already been made/adapted), can help with using what you have and thinking dynamically and creatively.