Assemblage is a technique that emerged in the 1950s as a three-dimensional counterpart to collage. Its roots can be traced back to the synthetic phase of Cubism in works by Picasso and Braque, and to Duchamp's Readymades -- however, the term... [more]

Assemblage is a technique that emerged in the 1950s as a three-dimensional counterpart to collage. Its roots can be traced back to the synthetic phase of Cubism in works by Picasso and Braque, and to Duchamp's Readymades -- however, the term Assemblage was not coined until a 1961 exhibition. Sharing the rawness of Beat poetry and flaunting the same subversive attitude towards culture, Assemblage transforms non-art objects and materials into sculptures of all sizes and persuasions. Its limitless range and evocative use of materials distinguish it from traditional fine-art sculpture. The very fragility of its materials, which in some instances only precariously endure, defies the notion of art's timelessness. Its rejection of craftsmanship completely redefines the status of the artist. In their desire to abandon permanence and dispense with chisels and awls, artists such as Joseph Beuys, Louise Nevelson, Bruce Conner, Arman, and Louise Bourgeois composed pieces that address change and chance and that appeal to the senses. Bruce Conner's shrouded figures, such as "Child", combine wax with nylon, cloth, metal, and twine for an effect that is mysteriously stifling and hermetic. The nonrepresentational work of Louise Nevelson stockpiles mostly wooden objects into abstract, monochromatic pieces that are unexpectedly sensuous. In the 1960s, Assemblage was linked in a symbiotic relationship with Environments. These, too, were constructed out of raw materials and relied on evocative composition, but each work expanded to fill an entire space, thus creating an encapsulated environment. Louise Bourgeois created both Assemblage and Environment works, using tactile and pliable materials like rubber, latex, plastic, and cloth. Her more confrontational pieces can be threatening: both "Fillette" and "The Destruction of the Father" are composed of forms that are strangely phallic and inevitably suggest castration. In their use of found objects, Environments and Assemblages often achieve a theatrical quality, like that of a set filled with scenery, yet these art forms avoid artificiality and focus instead on the drama inherent in the most common and disposable articles. [show less]