Souffleur, wat is the meaning of assemblage?

SOUFFLEUR

Assemblage

Art, like all domains, has its own vocabulary. In 'Souffleur', M staff explain specialist terms that may sound familiar to you but perhaps no have forgotten what they mean, or you never did know.

Eveline De Wilde, collection manager, contemporary art: “Assemblage is a technique for combining different elements – particularly found objects – with artistic interventions to create a three-dimensional work. Jean Dubuffet coined the term in 1953, but the technique is much older and appears across different cultures.”

“We included several assemblages in the ‘Collection of M’ displays, including ‘The Constant Glitch’ by Christiane Blattmann (2020). She created the work using sculptural techniques and found objects, including an old wood-burning stove, drainpipes and bricks. When you look more closely, you notice bronze snails that appear to glide over the stove. The elements still refer to their original functions – generating heat, extracting smoke – but together they acquire a new meaning. Blattmann plays with contrasts between objects and materials: the stove evokes domestic warmth yet is made of cold steel; and the jute cloth, painted fiery red and treated with starch, may conjure up clothing or a blazing flame.