I attempted to do a 5-day solo creative trek, and ended up only completing one day of it. The compositional aspect of collage still appeals to me, but cutting and pasting don’t. Maybe in the future I’ll find another way to exercise this longing for compositional manipulation.
The trek
the practice: make a photo-based collage every day
guiding intention: discovery — finding out what my spirit is trying to say, and how it might work as streetwear
why: there’s a part of my spirit craving visual expression, but I don’t know what form it wants to take. this is a trial to see if photography-collage-streetwear will satisfy it.
tiniest circle: 5 items (papers/marks)
opening ritual:
- put on headphones, play music, close door
- prepare paper, glue, magazines, collage papers, mark-making supplies
- feel into principles: liquid, baddie energy + solo studio cave
- look through magazines for concept photos
closing ritual:
- write a brief log
- sign and date
- clear art supplies
Trekking logs
Jan 27th (the only day that I completed the trek’s activity):
I don’t like the physicality of collage — ripping magazines and gluing paper, so I was almost going to write it off at the very beginning as not for me. But unsurprisingly I did love thinking about the composition of the pieces of paper, and my favourite part was making marks in the end to really make the piece pop.
Surprisingly, I ended up loving the result!! This piece is the exact collage aesthetic that I love. But it does feel a bit emotionally hollow given that I have no connection to the main subject photo. I wonder if I’ll feel more emotion when I center the piece in storytelling with a photo I took.