The Third Thing Is Immaterial

“Readymades of the 20th Century” at Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin
Photo by Layin, 10 May 2017 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

FROM KOLAJ 34

Are Readymades Uncollages?

In Kolaj 34, Todd Bartel continues his exploration of uncollage, this time turning his attention to Readymades. He writes, “What is an uncollage? In the physical world, uncollage is a composite image made with seamless unison. In the mind, uncollage is an intellectual coupling that suggests a third thing.” Bartel investigates this idea by considering the Readymades of Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, and Jack Massey.

This article by Todd Bartel appears in Kolaj 34. To read the full article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

P. P. Ruiz’s Bike by Jack Massey
34.25”x70”x14”; Peugeot bicycle (c. 1900); 1984 & 2016.
Installation view at the Thompson Gallery, Cambridge School of Weston, Watertown, Massachusetts, USA, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.

Can an act of intellectual coupling be art? You decide. But I would offer this: the immateriality of the third thing is what is most activating. Uncollage comes alive in the mind.

This article by Todd Bartel appears in Kolaj 34. To read the full article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Todd Bartel is a collage-based artist. His work assumes assembled forms of painting, drawing and sculpture that examine the roles of landscape and nature in contemporary culture. Since 2002, Bartel has taught drawing, painting, sculpture, installation art and conceptual art at the Cambridge School of Weston, Weston, Massachusetts, USA. He is the founder and the Director of the Cambridge School’s Thompson Gallery, a teaching gallery dedicated to thematic inquiry, and “IS” (Installation Space), a proposal-based installation gallery. Bartel holds a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in painting from Carnegie Mellon University. Bartel’s four-part series on Uncollage appeared in Kolaj 25-28. Learn more at www.toddbartel.com.