Recently, a person in my
Vintage Gluebooks and Pages Facebook group posed a question about the purpose of creating. She said that it was very clear to her the purpose of creating scrapbooks, for example, but wasn't clear about junk journals and gluebooks. She wanted to know "if something doesn't have a purpose, why make it?" So I've been thinking about it: is there a purpose for creating collage art and gluebooks?
Telling a story
I completely understand about scrapbooking and a purpose -- scrapbooks tell a story. It is also possible to create a gluebook with a purpose -- memory keeping over a set period of time. For example, you could collage with bits of papers you come across your day or your week. I did that in one gluebook and quite enjoyed the experience. I simply kept an eye open for bits that were colorful and/or somehow reflected the date or season around me.
Just for fun, imagine what it would have been like if your grandmother liked to create gluebooks while she was still single, as a young woman. Imagine you open one of her books to a spread, what would you see? For my grandmother growing up in Los Angeles in the 1930s, I could imagine seeing a receipt from Woolworths, the little piece of black DMC paper tape that holds embroidery thread together. Maybe a piece of recipe, or a swatch of pretty wallpaper. Maybe something from a Sears and Roebuck's catalog or some other advertisement.
Now think about what someone might find in a gluebook that you make, but 80 years from now. What kinds of random papers from your time would they see? A tag from the dry cleaners? A pretty image from a magazine? A favorite quote? An illustration of herbs from the cover of a tea box? It doesn't need to have the structure of a scrapbook. You don't need to tell a specific story or create a narrative. You are just curating images that speak to you on some level, and collaging them in a gluebook.
What collage can do for you
Collage can do a couple of things: First, it can help you appreciate the physical properties of papers and what's on them. In the example I gave above, I talked about using modern-day papers, but many of us like to use vintage papers. We like the qualities of older papers; handling them and looking at the texts, illustrations, whatever, and appreciating that they have survived as long as they have, to be able to use in making art. We like making something that celebrates these papers, and it's great when others can appreciate these materials too.
Collage can also help you be creative in working with design and placement, which is a mental exercise that many people find pleasure in. Just as there is a satisfaction in finding the perfect rug for the living room that compliments the couch and lampshades, there is a satisfaction in finding the perfect piece of pattern paper that compliments a vintage photo and a piece of hand-written note. It's fun, it's rewarding, and it feels good to fill a book that once is complete, you can look back through and admire, and it will spur even more creative ideas in you to work on something new.
The question
Back to the question: Do you need a purpose to do collage art? Only you can answer that question. Do you really? Would you be ok with making art just for the sake of it, even if no one else around you really cared for it? Do you need to have the validation of others? Maybe the support of an art group online is enough. Would you be okay making art only because you are able to reach that place of mindfulness where you can tune everything else out and simply enjoy that you are creating?
I hope you decide that it's enough to create because of the joy it brings you without there being a defined purpose. You will notice after a while of looking at the collage art pieces posted in the group that you can actually see or feel the joy in a composition by the choices and arrangements of papers. Remember though, that the journey is just as important (sometimes more so) than the destination itself. The act of creating is at least as powerful as what you create.
What do you think? Is there a purpose for creating collage art and gluebooks?
