Collage or Composition

A collage with no title. Actually, not titling it myself, or at least not revealing my title, leads to the theme of my work. I knew what idea I wanted to work with when I first started – and that somewhat expanded into a more broad, abstract concept – although something that everything has no choice but to be familiar with. However, I did not use any conventional or concrete examples for this. I used things from my life… my roommate commented, “Is that supposed to be your desk?”

I hadn’t made that realization until then. During the creation, my mind was lost to both Marshall Mathers LPs playing through the speakers. Sub-consciously I would pick off items – like the Altoid case or my laptop. Anything that got added from my real world, received a touch up. Even though the picture isn’t the clearest (soon I will have a scanned copy up so the detail will be more noticeable), I don’t want to disclose everything. My clippers, instead of saying “Made in US” like the actual pair in my room, say, “Made in HAH-C,” my initials. That’s one of the big hints towards the idea I wanted to convey. Another item present does not even exist yet anywhere but in my head – the cover of my book. There’s no title and I actually printed a partly-legible sentence on a page where the chapter is “Chapter A” and not the usual “1” or “I.” I had some fun with that where I took my old penname and wrote a boastful comment about the book and it’s ideas – the company that houses the penname is called “Hopper-Collins Perspectives,” another hint at this poster is supposed to mean. 

The version posted, and the version I have now are actually a little different. I decided to change two items, and add an entirely new one. I just felt I should point that out. Also, unless you went to my high school or were in my Upward Bound program, I wouldn’t expect you to figure out what “S.Goodbye” and “Public Trans” stand for. They are titles for two poems I wrote, the latter actually called Public Transit – and also has a second marking in another form of writing. They aren’t my favorite pieces, albeit in the top five, but it’s the creation that caused their appearance. Some other items include headphones that interact with my book, a lamp and a fist. The fist is actually interesting because I had originally intended it to be the black power fist – which in my opinion it still is. One of the cords for the headphones runs through the fist, which would change the perspective of what it could mean for different people. Out of all the little scenes in the collage, the fist is the only one I could come up with a color scheme – something personal to my identity. 

And there is a reason this is colorless. Not because that’s how I see the world. Some things might be a different color for different people; different perspectives were important creating this. Look at all the little stick figures. However, don’t just take my words for what my art means. Other people have already expressed their ideas of what things meant that I hadn’t thought of – it’s like literary criticism, for visual art.