Chaos Collaging 1
Are you familiar with the TV show, Chopped, on the Food Network? I’m not a foodie, I don’t enjoy watching people cook, but I make an exception for Chopped because of the dazzling displays of creativity it offers. Same goes for Project Runway. Not particularly interested in fashion, definitely not interested in the squabbles between contestants, but what they end up creating from what sometimes are bonker parameters (make a wearable, high-fashion piece entirely from items you find in the supermarket!?!), now that has my full attention.
I created a fun collage exercise based on Chopped. Maybe you don’t consider yourself a visual or collage artist. That’s OK. You don’t need to be. This is an exercise everyone can do. Why should you bother? Because practicing making art out of chaos, in any form, will help you get into the mindset to do it with everything else. This isn’t about making great art (but you never know, you just might), it’s about working through the process.
If you’re not familiar with Chopped, basically the contestants are each given the same mystery basket with 3–6 items. Not only must they make a full course using ALL of the items, the items must be transformed and highlighted. Meaning if there’s parsley in your basket, you can’t just throw it on the plate as a garnish. Basket items tend to be things one wouldn’t normally think of putting together. For example, one appetizer basket contained: blood orange syrup, the African spice blend ras el hanout, hot cross buns, and lamb fries (testicles). Mystery baskets are almost always Chaos baskets.
There’s also a pantry offered to the contestants to help them round out their courses. Items in the pantry are typically rice, pasta, potatoes, herbs, spices, oils, bread, dairy, fruit and vegetables. Pantry items are only supposed to be used in supporting roles, the stars of dishes must be the mystery basket ingredients.
And of course contestants must finish each course in a ridiculously short amount of time.
For this exercise (which I plan on making weekly), I provide the mystery basket in the form of a downloadable PDF that you print out.
Before you download the PDF, set up your pantry. The only items required are the following:
- Glue stick, glue or some other kind of adhesive
- Sheet of paper (6x8 or 4x6 suggested)
Recommended items: Scissors, ruler, several colored pencils, markers, pastels, paint, ink, paint brush, etc.)
Don’t go wild with your pantry, just a few options. If you don’t have art supplies, some Sharpies and your kid’s crayons are great. If you don’t have scissors or a cutting knife, tear the paper. If you all you have is a pencil and pen, that’s OK too. You can go a long way with just salt and pepper.
Below is my pantry. I’ll likely only use a couple of these supplies for my piece.
In short, download and print out the PDF. Set your timer for 15 minutes. You must use a section from each swatch. Transform the pieces into something new (i.e. don’t just cut out the four strips and glue them side by side on your paper). Use your pantry supplies to highlight and support your creation.
Make art from the chaos.
I’ll post my piece here in a few days. I’m new to Medium, but it doesn’t look like you can post pictures in the comments, but if you like you can post a link.
