Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1255943
O ur fractured, pandemic-addled times are analogous to the forging of analytic cubism by Picasso, Braque, and Gris, which anticipated the coming of World War I: Society was dissolving, breaking down, reconfiguring in dramatic, disquieting, and unforeseen ways. Then the artists began putting it back together again. Synthetic cubism was born, with layers of collaged newsprint, cafe menus, and other ephemera standing in for remaking life, into a fresh world edged with wit, conversation, and community. Next, Dada was born — anti-art, anti-establishment — and collage was crowned as king, with chief players Kurt Schwitters, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Tristan Tzara employing discarded paper scraps, photo montage, and even fashion to concoct a movement that spread from Zurich to Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, Paris, and New York. Surrealism sprang up following Dada's demise in the 1920s, as did a throwback to the dandy epoch of Edwardianism, as exemplified by Cecil Beaton's brilliant scrapbooks that pinned high society with tropes of cultures past for an enticing mood board of aspiration and delight. Today's era also signals high times for collage. Now, as we are called to remake daily rituals, the layers of life assume richer meaning than ever before. Herein, six talents decipher, cut, paste, and, like archaeologists, mine and fabricate from the detritus of our days, images of memory and inspiration. FROM THE DETRITUS OF OUR DAYS Compiled by Catherine D. Anspon. Produced by Michelle Aviña. 108