Exercise: IMG collage

From XPUB & Lens-Based wiki

Create a single web page that displays side-by-side a collection of images from different sources online. You should have at least 7 different images, each from a different (website) domain. The collection should be coherent, about a single thing; for instance, the images might be:

  • related to a topic or theme (thematic collage)
  • related to yourself (self-portrait)
  • related to someone else (portrait)
  • share a common visual aspect, such as a color, or pattern, or shape (a "swatch", in the traditional design sense)
  • share a hidden / cryptic connection (a puzzle?)

Think of a possible critical use or context for viewing for your collage. How might your collage contribute to a personal research question, serve to illustrate a point, or suprise or otherwise engage those who view it.

Technical Requirements

Base your collage on Template.html and use only the tag. Use the default "flow" layout of the tag. At this point, do not be concerned with more advanced layout (CSS) or interactivity (javascript, rollovers, etc).

Collage as Critique

The term is based on the Frech, coller, to glue, and was first used by cubists (Braques, Picasso) to describe their work.

Hoch-Cut_With_the_Kitchen_Knife.jpg [1] Hamilton-appealing2.jpg [2]

Collage as a form has been used as a technique to look critically at mainstream / normative media but taking elements out of their original popular contexts and re-contextualizing them. An attempt is made to reveal links that would normally remain unseen or unspoken because of the connections being uncomfortable for some or otherwise problematic.

  1. Hannah Höch, Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany, 1919
  2. Richard Hamilton, John McHale, Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? 1956