Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Carter, and I'm gonna be guiding you through our lesson today, where we're going to be looking at assemblage and how we can create a sense of memory and share that with the audience through our work.

It's a really exciting form of collage that we're gonna be thinking about.

And you're gonna have to be really open to new ideas as we get started on this work.

I'm sure you're gonna do fantastically today.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to say that I can create an assemblage artwork that explores memory by selecting and arranging found materials.

Now I wonder already if you're looking at that and thinking, there are some words I'm not sure about.

And the words that we're using today are gonna be really important so that we feel that we're really confident in what we're doing.

So the first word we need to think about is assemblage, which is everyday objects brought together to create meaning.

It's quite a specific art term.

And think about that word assemble that's kind of hidden within there.

We're also gonna be talking about found objects.

Now, in art, found objects are items that were not designed for the purpose of making art, but they've been collected from often random sources and used in the creation of art.

And then association.

An association is a connection we make in our minds between ideas and things based on something that they might have in common or that they do have in common.

You probably can think of some associations now.

Our lesson today has got two learning cycles.

We're gonna start by selecting objects related to memory.

And we're then gonna move on to designing an assemblage composition.

Let's get started selecting our objects related to memory.

Have a look at this picture.

What memories might be associated with this artwork? Think about what you can see in the image.

I can see a pencil, a tie, a really tiny violin, a whistle, some coins.

And I think that blue thing in the background is a bottle, the top of a water bottle.

What do those objects remind you of? I know, for me, it's making me think about school.

And I think that looks like a school uniform.

Tie and whistles in particular always make me think of my PE lessons.

What did you come up with? In art, an assemblage is a work of art made with everyday objects brought together to create meaning.

It can be said to be a form of three dimensional collage.

Okay, check for understanding time.

Is it true or false? An assemblage is a form of collage where a large group of people assemble in a gallery.

Pause the video and decide if you think that is true or false.

Well done if you said that that was false.

And this is because an assemblage is a work of art we make with everyday objects brought together to create meaning, like a three dimensional collage.

It's not an assembly of people.

Lucas and Izzy are discussing the term assemblage.

And Lucas shares, "Assemblage has the word assemble in it.

Is it about bringing things together? And Izzy adds, "Yes, it sounds like a French word.

I think it must be about combining objects." Well done, Lucas and Izzy.

They really understood that term.

Have you ever heard this art term before? Artists often use found objects to make their assemblages.

These are everyday objects not normally associated with art creation.

An assemblage creates meaning for the audience through the associations that the viewer has with the found objects.

These can be common associations or personal links for the artist.

Okay, another check for understanding time.

True or false.

An assemblage can only hold meaning if the objects have a commonly held association for the audience.

Pause the video and decide if you think that statement is true or false.

Well done if you said false.

An assemblage creates meaning for the audience through the association the viewer has with the objects.

These associations can be common associations held by many people or personal links for the artist.

What do you associate with these found objects? Look at them closely.

Sam shares that she always eats ice cream with a teaspoon.

So her association with one of those spoons is the idea of eating ice cream.

Andeep adds that he thinks of serving food to others.

So a different use of the spoon is his association.

Artists can use found objects to share meaning.

Chila Kumari Burman uses an assemblage of ice cream spoons in her work "Spoon painting" from 2021.

They were a personal reference to the artist's father who owned an ice cream truck.

So it's a really nice example of when an artist is using a common object but to create a personal association.

Subodh Gupta makes use of kitchen utensils, including ladles, to create an association between consumption and culture in his work "A very hungry God" from 2006.

This is a nice example of when we're using an object that has a commonly held association, but the artist has altered that association to create new meaning through the way that they have positioned and placed that object.

Other assemblages which create meaning through association with found objects include Delaine Le Bas, whose installation "The House Of Le Bas" includes many found objects, including clothes and personal items. Susan Hiller's "Relics from 1972-ongoing" uses glass containers of various sizes filled with ashes of paintings.

Nari ward combines nails, fabric, and baseball bats in his "All Stars" work from 1995 to 1996.

And Judith Scott made use of a shopping trolley and fibres in her work "Untitled" from 2003-4.

Okay, so we're getting started on our practical task.

I would like you initially to create an idea shower of objects associated with memories of the first day of school.

Think about objects that remind you of school, things that you have with you when you're at school, anything that was different about your first day of school and any objects that represent that.

Pause the video and get started on your idea shower now.

How did you get on? Once you got started, did you find that you had lots of ideas of things that you associate with the first day of school? Did you think about your first day at primary school or were you thinking about secondary school, I wonder? Maybe you've changed schools and you're thinking about your first day at your new school.

You might've said some things a little bit like this.

So you might've been thinking about your uniform, your lunchbox, your pencil case, shoes, and new shoes in particular for the first day of school.

You might have been thinking about your bus pass.

Okay, so moving on to the second task.

We're now going to gather objects that you've identified from Task A-1 to create your assemblage about memory.

So these need to be things that you can use whilst we're in today's lesson.

You should aim to gather between 5 and 10 items. Find a range of items and group them together and look for any similarities in shape, colour, and pattern which might help you to create meaning or visual interest.

Don't worry about trying to start making your assemblage.

You're just gathering things together now.

Pause the video and start gathering your objects.

How did you get on? I wonder what you've managed to find.

You might have some objects like this.

So we've got a few items from a pencil case.

We've got a carabiner that might be on the back of your backpack.

There's a badge, bus fair, house keys, and then elements of your school uniform.

Laura shares, "I found it quick to gather a number of found objects linked to my first day at school." Did you find it quite quick or did it take a little bit longer to start thinking about the objects that you wanted to use? Okay, so we're moving on to our second learning cycle, designing an assemblage composition.

How important do you think the composition of found objects in an assemblage is? Jun shares, "I think it's very important.

Subodh Gupta created the recognisable image of a skull with found objects which added meaning." Laura shares, "Abstract work without recognisable images, like Susan Hiller's 'Relics,' also have a lot of meaning.

Her found objects are stored and labelled like historical artefacts, which adds importance." Assembling found objects together creates a story which can explore our identity or history.

How these found objects are composed can create deeper meanings through their associations.

Okay, check for understanding.

How can assembling and composing found objects help to tell a story about identity or history? Is it a, arranging found objects in a thoughtful way can create meaning and tell a story? Is it b, found objects have no meaning on their own, so they cannot tell a story? Is it c, found objects should always be placed randomly to make them more interesting? Or d, only images, not found objects, can be used to explore identity and history.

Pause the video and decide which statement you think is correct.

Well done if you said a, arranging found objects in a thoughtful way can create meaning and tell a story.

Some believe an assemblage must form a recognisable image to have meaning, but meaning can also emerge through found objects, textures, and symbols.

The arrangement, colours, and relationships between found objects can express emotion, experiences, and identity.

Can you think of any artworks that use assemblage? Try and imagine in your head if you were to change the way that they were composed.

Would that alter the meaning? Artists can use compositional devices such as the golden spiral and the rule of thirds to create eye-catching compositions.

This is an example of the golden spiral.

And you can see that at the end of that spiral, we've got a focal point.

Using that shape is often found especially in painting, but it's not exclusive to paintings.

And here's an example of the rule of thirds.

And where those thirds intersect, that cross point, is where then we've got another focal point.

And again, you might notice these used in all sorts of places.

It can be photography, it can be artwork.

They're also used in film and TV shows.

This assemblage is using a compositional device.

Can you tell which one? Alex says, "I think it's the golden spiral.

I can imagine the spiral over the work." And just for reference, there's the spiral again.

Can you see it in your mind's eye? So from the top of that pencil, round the tie, onto where the badge is, creates that kind of spiral effect.

Okay, so here's a check for understanding.

Here's another image.

Which compositional device has been used on this image of an assemblage? Decide which you think is correct.

Is it a, a random composition? Is it b, the golden spiral? Or is it c, the rule of thirds? Pause the video now and decide your answer.

Well done if you said the rule of thirds.

And I'm just gonna overlay here.

Can you see that the whistle joins the pen as a focal point and sits on the vertical left rule of thirds line? Artists can make creative choices about how their assemblages are displayed.

Some examples include.

Betye Saar and Joseph Cornell have used boxes in their work as how they compose their assemblages.

It's quite clever way of doing it as it also provides only one angle that the viewer can look at the artwork from.

Delaine Le Bas will create a house or a shelter often using fabric hung from the ceiling to create that structure within the space that she's creating.

Some artists create a relief coming off of a wall.

Alvaro Barrington is a good example of this, where the work comes out from almost like a painting.

Some artists hang things from the ceiling, and Cornelia Parker is really well known for doing this.

And then some artists create sculptures.

Both Tony Cragg and David Hammons do this and actually have freestanding work in the centre of a space.

Artists can vary their display for different works, like Natalie Ball or Nari Ward, who use a range of different techniques in their work.

Working with found objects means artists need to think about different ways to join their work.

What skills do you think might be used? Lucas shares, "Maybe they would use construction methods, like nailing or welding found objects." Izzy adds, "Wire, string, or rubber bands could be used to hold found objects together." Jun adds, "An artist could use strong adhesives, but they could also just place found objects." So moving on to our next task.

I'd like you now to experiment with ways to join your object as an assemblage about memory.

You should join your objects using placement or temporary joining like rubber band, strings, clips, or just by balancing them.

Experiment with two or three different assemblage joinings, including 2D and 3D methods.

And evaluate how secure and balanced your tests are.

Here we have a video showing a few different ways that you can work with these temporary joinings.

So you've got the clips here, and we're using bulldog clips.

And they can be used either as a base and prop things up, or actually it's clipping something directly into it and using that to create structure.

If you're using a rubber band, think about how you can use your non-dominant hand to kind of clamp the objects together and then use your dominant hand to wrap that around.

You might be using something like a string, and you can then also tie it as well.

You might find it useful to work in pairs and support each other as you're doing this.

And finally, when you're thinking about balance, remember that objects nearer the surface will need to be larger, at least initially, so that you can achieve the correct balance of your objects laying on top.

Pause the video and get started on your creation now.

How did you get on? Did you find actually once you got started, you were able to test quite a lot of different techniques? You might have wrapped objects together using string or rubber bands, like in this example here.

But you might have used bulldog clips to create a more balanced structure.

And if you look at that image, you can see that it's the width of the clip that are creating the width on the surface that allows the work to actually stand up.

So now we're gonna move on to exploring at least six different compositions of your found objects to create an assemblage about you memories of your first day of school.

You should explore using the golden spiral, rule of thirds, and random compositions.

Think about 2D and 3D compositions.

And record your different compositions with a camera.

I wonder what you made.

You might have produced something that looks a little bit like this.

And you can see in this example we've got lots of objects together and the clips have been used to create that vertical structure.

You might have produced something like this.

And not only have the keys and whistle been used to create the base, but that also is strong enough to then hold up that pen.

And here, the keys have been wrapped with some wire at the top, which you can't quite see, and then balanced on top of the rubber the sharpener and the pin.

And in this one, we're just using balance.

You can see all of those rubbers have been stacked up.

But they're not just in a complete tower.

They've been twisted, which creates a slightly different composition.

In this example, the whistle has been used as a structure that holds up the pen, and then the clip is balanced from that pen.

And here we've got the coins and the sharpener used to hold up the keys.

I wonder what your example looks like.

So for Task 3, I want you to discuss how would you display your work if you had the freedom and resources to do anything.

So imagine you are being commissioned to put your work in a gallery, and the gallery are gonna support you in putting together whatever you want in terms of filling the space.

Think about what would be your ultimate goal if you had that freedom and choice.

Think about if you would display it in a box, as a house or a shelter.

Would it be on a wall as a relief? Would you hang it from the ceiling? Would you have it freestanding as a sculpture? Really allow your imagination to go really wide with this.

And is there anything you could do to further enhance the idea of the first day of school? Consider how the display of your work could further communicate your feelings about the first day of school.

Is there anything that would make it more enhanced? Be really imaginative with your ideas.

Nothing's off the table.

This is a design.

What would you do if you had all the freedom? You might even want to think about bringing other objects into this idea.

Pause the video and get started now.

I wonder what ideas you came up with.

It might have been something like this.

So Aisha shares, "I would like to use the inside of lockers for a series of assemblages about the first day of school." I wonder if she'd use multiple different artists within each of the different boxes to share the way that all of us have a slightly different but maybe mirrored experience of the first day of school.

Jacob adds that he thought about hanging work from the coat hooks, like the ones in his old school.

And actually, use of that coat hook in a gallery space would add and create more association, wouldn't it? And Sofia adds, "I like the idea of creating a shelter, like a home from home in the classroom." And maybe she'd even create a classroom shape within the gallery.

I wonder what you came up with.

Okay, so for Task 4, we're gonna create a design for an assemblage composition about your memories of the first day of school.

So you could add labels to explain your ideas, and you could create more than one idea.

So this is now about drawing or designing what the idea you had for Task B-3 in a way that could be documented in your sketchbook.

Pause the video and get started now.

How did you get on? You might have thought that this needed to be a really accurate drawing, but actually artists might use drawings like this to communicate with a gallery what it is that they have envisaged and to work through the idea in their own mind.

You might have produced a drawing that looks a little bit like this.

Aisha shares, "I combined my idea of a locker with Jacob's idea of hanging parts of the work.

I think it works well as it uses the space effectively." And if you look at her design, she's attached hooks to the sides of the locker on the inside, and from that has hung the assemblage of the scissors with the pencil and rubber band.

She's also included a freestanding sculpture on the base of the locker.

So the work becomes quite interesting and layered with multiple different places for us to look at the work.

I wonder what your design look like.

So in summary of our lesson today, Exploring Memory Through the World of Assemblage, we've learned that in art, an assemblage is a work of art made with everyday objects brought together to create meaning like a 3D collage.

An assemblage creates meaning for the audience through associations the viewer has with the objects.

These associations can be commonly held associations or personal links for the artist.

And assembling found objects together creates a story which explores our identity and history.

How these found objects are composed can create deeper meanings.

Well done for your work today.

We've covered an awful lot of information and you've undertaken quite a lot of different tasks, both practical and hard thinking tasks.

You should be really proud of your work today.

I look forward to seeing you in our next lesson.