Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Dada: Keep one reading path; rotate and sever the rest
- Type
- Set in Dada's manner (Collide weights, directions and cases in one plane), and let Photogram's lettering (For letters, lay cut stencils on the paper and leave them reversed) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Dada's material (Letterpress black, red, off-white; bind the accidents with repetition); bring in exactly one thing from Photogram (Photo paper, lamp height, exposure time, distance controlling edge hardness).
- Colour
- Build on #efe6d0, #d7362f, #161513 and admit one accent from #f0eee5, #73777a, #111315.
Where they fight
- Roughly 86 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Dada Not decorative messiness. Decide which authority or custom you are objecting to.
- Photogram This is not black and white abstraction in general. Merely arranging unusual objects records only shadows, while transparency and distance from the sensitized surface are what make the image.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Dada (Style, 1916–1920s) and its accent from Photogram (Technique, 1830s– / avant-garde revival). Structural cues: Rotated type; Fragments of sound; Collisions of scale; Unbalanced margins. Accent cues, used sparingly: Cameraless; Object contours; Reversed values; Contact and distance. Composition: Keep one reading path; rotate and sever the rest. Type and lettering: Collide weights, directions and cases in one plane. Let one material quality come from the second style: Photo paper, lamp height, exposure time, distance controlling edge hardness. Mood: Rebellion, Play, Exhilaration, Technology, Calm. Color: build on #efe6d0, #d7362f, #161513 with a single accent drawn from #f0eee5, #73777a, #111315. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Dada 1916–1920s / Style / Avant-garde
Deliberately dislocates meaning and order, making authority itself the material of the joke.
- Photogram 1830s– / avant-garde revival / Technique / Photographic Techniques
No camera is involved. Objects laid on the sensitive surface and exposed to light turn contour, transparency and distance into the picture.
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