Levi -Strauss presented his concept of bricolage in ‘The Savage Mind’ to emphasize the
creation of new meanings through the altering and adaptation of specific cultural
narratives. In the context of contemporary western society the bricoleur could be
considered as the odd-jobs person who keeps at hand all of the left over parts of every
gadget or machine they have tinkered with in order to create new inventions. The
bricoleur also represents a counterpart to the engineer who has a structured method
and all of the essential tools and materials to complete a specific project. In contrast the
bricoleur gleans discarded materials, using everyday objects as a method of delivering
new relationships between perception and experience. Within the realms of visual arts
practice the use of everyday objects allows for a surrendering of the artist’s traditional
ties to skill and control and therefore permitting the pre-existing associations of found
objects to complete the meaning of the work.
BRIEF: For this lesson students are to come prepared with a collection of gleaned
materials in order to create a bricolage/assemblage work. As a ‘narrative of debris’ the
final work may very well suggest a functional object or simply remain a self-contained
art piece. Each student is to develop his or her own conceptual considerations. A
suggested approach is for students to form a collaborative engagement with their
gleaned materials that allows the objects to suggest their own possible associations as
opposed to continually attempting to control the final outcome.
As a studio based project students need to be mindful of simple and creative methods of
binding surfaces and objects together. Basic materials such as string, thread and muslin combined with PVA glue can form effective joining and binding methods.
Play with the idea of :
Self limited potential
Hiding yourself
liminal space of personal transformation
What I am talking about:
These items belong to my old self and reflect the liminal space between the old self and the new.
Items chosen for project and what they are:
Old Tshirt: Container for caporial being
LG mobile Phone: Connection and disconnection
Global
Headphones: Intimate Disconnection Sound Escape/ Hiding
Sound file: old sound recording
Parable of the Lamp Under a Basket: Matthew 5:14-16; Mark 4:21-25; Luke 8:16-18; Luke 11:33-34
In the parable of the lamp under a basket, Jesus notes that no one lights a lamp in order to hide it. On the contrary, those who light a lamp set it on a table to fill the whole room with light.New Living Translation
Then Jesus asked them, "Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.
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