SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. – Three Vermont artists will be holding a workshop on how to create merge collages at Main Street Arts (MSA) on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. There is a fee for this workshop. Their art show featuring merge collages they’ve created runs through Oct. 29.
The art show will display a number of the collaborative and individual works of Matthew J. Peake, Gordon Korstange, and Gretchen Abendschein. Individual pieces will be available for purchase, with a portion of the sales going to MSA.
“We have chosen some of our Merge Collages for your viewing pleasure, along with the written descriptions,” said Peake.
According to Peake, the collaborative works stem from a game the three artists play. The game begins by each player offering up a rule (like a Surrealist game), such as “begin with an image in the center of the blank paper,” or “each image has to have the color blue somewhere in it,” or “add a word on each of the last three turns.”
Then colored pieces of paper are passed out, and the first part of the game begins. Each chooses a magazine or card out of the stack, and begins looking for an image that they connect to, for reasons each may not know, and that fits the three rules. Then out come the scissors and the rubber cement brush.
After 10 minutes, a chime rings, and they pass the collage either right or left and continue looking for images that will interact with what has already been created. They repeat this process for three rounds.
On the next three rounds, each puts one small random word somewhere on the emerging collage (some of the earlier collages may not have the three words). One last turn remains to add a finishing image. Then they set them up and discuss how the merging process went and what was the result.
Finally, they each take one collage home to write about it. This could be primarily description, but it could also be something more, such as “describe but go beyond the frame,” or, “make one of the figures or objects speak.” The three words must be incorporated into the description.
The workshop will basically follow the same game in groups of three attendees, with guidance from the artists.
Main Street Arts’ mission is to be a catalyst for arts and community, fostering creative expression through artistic experiences, accessible to all.
For more information or questions, please contact MSA at 802-869-2960 or info@mainstreetarts.org.