Response to Duane Michals Article

In reading this essay, I was pleased to find out that my initial thoughts upon seeing the pieces and then those through reading on were in accordance with those expressed by an expert of this type of photomontage – Edward Tufte.  Specifically, as he critiques the work of El Lissitsky, he says, “Overlapping images express a multiplicity of links and metaphors…” and “By showing steps between the ideas in the mind to the reality of the paper, Lissitsky illustrates the process of graphic thinking and creation.”  I think that this is the most amazing part about photomontage and collage, whether it is in the style of Lissitsky, Fenster, or Michals, or in the styles of Hoch and Heartfield.  Each image within the image exhibits an idea that supports the ultimate idea of the artist, and it is unique and unlike the order of a coordinated, single image in photo or painting.

Although collage and photomontage are chaotic and sometimes hard to grasp in terms of meaning, they are undoubtedly pieces of art that are thought-provoking by nature.  How do all the images, pieces, and words connect and bring forth the “idea”?   Why are they together in this piece?  What ideas or issues do they propose?  Even though the artist has his/her own problem, issue, or idea s/he wants to represent, the final product on display welcomes many interpretations by the piece’s viewers.  This is not unlike pieces from other art periods, but I find that there is a better, more welcoming relationship between piece and viewer because the end to the means of creating photomontage, collage, and other Conceptual art pieces is to get people thinking about not only the piece, but about themselves and world in which they live.

 

I chose this image because it reminds me of the piece in this reading by Bernie Stephanus.  This creates an interesting illusion, first allowing me personally to view the face in a top-down manner, and then looking at it bottom-up, seeing all of the pieces that put together this face.  I find it quite coincidental that I found this piece.  I feel like we talked about it in this class, but it may have been in another class of mine, Gender and Communication (please tell me if you know what I am talking about).  What I find special about it is what it might represent, that the image of women in media is choppy and rarely whole.  There are pieces of a woman used to advertise a product (e.g., lips for lipstick, the bust for lingerie, legs/feet for shoes, etc.) , but rarely is a woman represented in the media and advertising as herself.  I could go on for ages on possibilities on why this is, but this is essentially what came to my mind when I first saw this.

~ Gina Marroquin