Oh-oh. I just found a new word. It's nice to learn something new everyday. "Bricolage". I think it's a fancy, french word for "hoarder" or "do-it-yourselfer (DIY)". So I researched it out. Low Brow Art and High Brow Craft?
Internet Fair Use - Bricolage
bri·co·lage /brēkōˈläZH,ˌbrikə-/ noun
: something constructed or created from a diverse range of available things.
: origin : French "to tinker, to do odd jobs"
This hits close to home. That would make me a "bricoleur". Sounds better than "hoarder". New TV shows looking for a sensational perspective have iconized the hoarding concept. I am potentially a social pariah. Could there be a mental illness lurking in my near future? See my house over there....some poor "white trash" must live there. My eight-year-old, Itsy Bit, is a little more brazen..."Hey Dad, can you clean up this mess over here? It looks better when it's organized." As they say, out of the mouths of babes...there is much innocence and straightforward wisdom.
Maybe I can even make up my own word around this....I make things in my garage-workshop-gallery-studio, the "bricolagerie". Oh, no, no no. I found this later upon investigation...."L'atelier du bricoleur". Oh, yes, yes, that's much better.
Favorite activity on Saturdays....yard sales. Favorite activity on Sundays....dumpster diving. The best dumpsters. I know where they are. I am so good at it that I can't even disclose my superfund, superfind sites. That's like a proprietary, trade secret. Favorite recurring retirement dream...drive around with a pickup truck, roam the city sidewalks and alleys for stuff, and make "found item art" in my garage-workshop-gallery-studio. Free. Perhaps I am a bum and hobo at heart.
The first step in any twelve-step recovery process is acknowledging that I have a problem. There is even a spiritual admonishment for this weakness of which I am aware:
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
So if I am to make sense of my predeliction in an artistic sense.....
Q: What makes bricolage fine art?
A: Using formal elements of art-making and the intention of making the work.
Q: What is the approach and methodology for bricolage?
A: A seven-step outline as follows:
1.
Examine contents
2.
Investigate alternative ways materials could be used and/or transformed
3.
Edit: Review, reject, select, rearrange
4.
Prototype: Layout a provisional composition
5.
Plan construction sequence: Decide the order and manner in which the elements should be assembled
6.
Execute plan: you can improvise and change as you go.
7.
Decide/ Learn when to stop
Q: What are some of the artistic organizing principles to be used in bricolage by the bricoleur?
A: Many of the basic principles of art including but not limited to:
- Line: Weight, direction, shape, type
- Shape: Geometric areas defined
- Color: Hue and intensity
- Texture: Surface qualities, tactile feel, illusion, shadow, depth
- Form and Volume: Three dimensional modeling
- Value: Shading, dark and light, chiascuro effect
- Space: Positive, negative, closed, open, illusions
- Contrast: Juxtaposition of values, colors, shapes
- Pattern: Rhythm and repetition
- Simplification: Removing elements to their most essential minimal basic
- Geometry and symmetry
- Perspective
- Emphasis or focus
- Harmony
- Unity
- Opposition
- Balance
- Variety
- Depth
- Meaning
- Travel: The direction the eye takes or is led through the work
There is then a range of results that can be attained. Using some of the principles outlined above? Are these just collages of items? Or purposeful assemblies with meaning and intent? What does this tell us about each of the artists? How might each of these change or shape our view of the world? Is there enjoyment and satisfaction to be had by the artist? By the viewer? Where do each of these rest on a continuum? Is this collage, craft, art, or fine art? How would the reader rate each of these? Art? Not art?
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Aaaaah, me.
