ARTISTIC ASSEMBLY: TECHNIQUE, TYPES AND OUTSTANDING ARTISTS - ART - 2025

The assemblage is a technique that consists of incorporating everyday objects to create works of art. Although these objects acquire an artistic or significant value when they are used as components of a piece, they always retain their identity in one way or another.

It is not a term that applies only to three-dimensional works. In many cases, a work of artistic assembly can also refer to flat constructions created with objects that do not present deformations or lifts, such as newspaper.

The term artistic assembly was coined in the middle of the last century to refer to a cultural and intellectual movement. This movement emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, at the hands of various visual artists from around the world.

Other forms of assembly date from long before the 20th century, in various cultures of humanity. However, the term specifically refers to the artistic creations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and everything that they subsequently inspired.

Technique and its characteristics

Creation

The technique of creating an assembly work of art is quite diverse. Artists can use any type of technique, as long as the artwork is created using rare objects on the art scene.

For example, in the play Backseat of a Dodge from '38, Edward Kienholz performed a particular setting on a large scale, using a nearly complete vehicle and other objects such as empty beer bottles, prerecorded music, and cable.

In turn, other artists such as Pablo Picasso himself created works of assembly on a smaller scale, as exemplified in some of his still life creations.

Artistic influences

The most important contribution made to the art assemblage style came from several prominent artists, whose individual characteristics shaped a style that became more and more popular as the years passed.

This is why the first works of artistic assemblage have touches of postmodernism. These are represented in the use of modern and day-to-day objects or, in many cases, images of these same objects. These include boxes, old shoes, cans of beans, machine parts, and many others.

Use of materials

One of the main characteristics of artistic assemblage is the use of materials that were not created for an artistic purpose to create works of art.

That is, the objects that are used in the assembly are always going to be objects that have no artistic value, but the accumulation of all in a specific way creates a work of art.

Simply put, the objects used to create an assembly can be natural, precast, or manufactured. The important thing is that their main objective is not to be used for the creation of works of art, but that they have different purposes.

Size

A work of artistic assemblage can vary in size and is not limited to small creations such as paintings and small sculptures. In fact, the artists who create these works are responsible for deciding how large they will be. Size is influenced by the objects each artist uses to shape their creation.

In his work The Time of Everything, created by Arman in Paris, the artist uses a large number of clocks to create a tower.

This work represents an example of the versatility with which artistic assemblage can be treated, since the shape of the objects that are used and the way in which they are placed to create the work of art gives an identity and a particular size to each artistic piece.

Types

Collages

The collages using everyday objects are a clear representation of the artistic assemblage. One of the main artists to use this technique was Jean Dubuffet. In fact, it was he who gave the name of "assembly" to the method, naming his first collages as assemblage of images.

Sculptures

Sculpture is the most obvious way to create representations of artistic assemblage. Many of the artists who use this technique tend to create works on a larger scale, given the ease with which objects can be adapted to a large environment.

The assembly technique gives artists the possibility to work in a way that painting does not always allow, and therefore it is common for sculptures to be created from everyday objects.

Featured artists

Armando Reverón

Armando Reverón was a Venezuelan plastic artist. He was one of the first artists to use natural elements (such as bamboo) to create artistic assemblages.

During an early stage of his life as an artist he moved to a small shack on the outskirts of town. This made him merge with nature in a metaphorical way; her work began to present natural elements from this point on. Her goal was to represent nature under the effects of the sun.

Self-portrait and doll, by Armando Reverón

Louise nevelson

Louise Nevelson was an American artist who stood out after the rise of Abstract Expressionism. Her most relevant works were artistic assemblages made of wood that she herself collected from the city. From this wood, Nevelson created monumental works with artistic significance.

Louise Nevelson collage

Georges braque

Georges Braque, of French origin, was one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Together with Pablo Picasso, he was one of the founders of the Cubist movement worldwide.

Although his main focus was the development of cubist works, he created a series of collages as artistic assemblages, in which he used strong colors and distinctive shapes to create works of great imagination. Braque did not stick to a single artistic style in his career, but he never strayed from cubism.

Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He is recognized as one of the main founders of artistic futurism. He inspired his art in the creations of Braque and Picasso, developing quite complex assemblages.

Despite having lived only a short time (he died at the age of 33), his art served to influence several generations of artists in the future.

Unique forms of continuity in space, by Umberto Boccioni

References

1. Assemblage Art, Visual Arts Encyclopedia, (nd). Taken from visual-arts-cork.com
2. Assemblage, Tate Art Galleries, (nd). Taken from tate.org
3. Assemblage - Art, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
4. Umberto Boccioni, Art History, (nd). Taken from theartstory.org
5. Louise Nevelson, Art History, (nd). Taken from theartstory.org
6. Armando Reverón, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
7. Georges Braque, Georges Braque Official Website, (nd). Taken from georgesbraque.org
8. Definition of Assemblage, Shelley Esaak's Art History Glossary, 2017. Taken from thoughtco.com