Four-Square Collage

One of the regular problems that comes up when working on a free-flowing piece of artwork is the tendency to repeat what we already know and have done many times before. Even though we know there are almost an infinite number of different combinations of marks, shapes, and colors, we tend to revert to the predictable.

In order to get around this form of repetition, we sometimes need to incorporate a little sleight of hand. 

Materials: 4 blocks of wood (4”×4” each), acrylic paints, general ephemera, and masking tape

Time: 1 hour

Size: 8”×8”

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the 4 blocks together facedown to form an 8”×8” square. Hold them roughly together with a couple of pieces of masking tape. Flip the square faceup again and start building a quick, unpremeditated collage, gluing down bits of paper and adding paint casually.

Move from chaos to order and back again repeatedly. Make a mess, give it some order, then make a mess again.

After 10 minutes of fervor, stop. Cut the blocks free from each other. That means removing the tape from the back and running a blade horizontally and vertically to release the four 4”×4” sections. Rearrange the blocks into a totally different 8”×8” formation. Retape and get back to collaging. In order to reunite the picture, you will need to rework the shapes and colors. Try to see this as a catalyst to a different way of looking.

After another 10 minutes, separate them again and this time rejoin the four blocks as a 4”×16” picture. From then on, use the blocks in any formation you wish as long as you use all four.

Keep changing the square formations until the hour is up.

HINT

Between each new formation, take two minutes to look at what you’ve done. This exercise acts literally as a block breaker of personal cliché, while forcing you to deal with change.