Exploration

Exploration: the task is to investigate information on the general topic in order to extend personal understanding. (Kuhlthau)

Kuhlthau's observation that students often expect to move straight to information collection after selecting a general topic rings true to me and my past experiences. Unfortunately, if one procrastinates too much it is easy to skimp on or skip this step. That leads to writing blocks in the final presentation because the learner has not reflected enough to develop personal ideas. So first I need to explore the general topic, without looking for points to support a thesis, in order to later construct a sense of meaning during the next stage of focus formulation.

Although this step at first sounds like an enjoyable one, with the freedom to read and browse without the pressure to create a finished product, Kuhlthau calls it "unexpectedly the most difficult of the entire process" ("Learning in Digital Libraries"). It can be hard to search with only a vague idea of what you are looking for or what you will find. She suggests a strategy of listing ideas and questions that come up while reading a wide range of materials. Today I am following this strategy while looking more closely at the materials I skimmed when selecting a topic. 

After a day of exploring, I see that there is a great deal of information and perspectives on collage available. I wonder if I will be able to apply any of the artists' ideas to my own work, which has more modest goals. I watched a recorded lecture about Victorian photo collage, which was interesting, but I'm not sure how much other information I can find about it. Kuhlthau is right about the dip in confidence right now.

In the last few semesters I have noticed that after working too long on a project, I get less productive as I get more tired. I start feeling confused about what I'm even doing. Usually I need to take a break and let the ideas sink in and move around in my head for a while. Then when I revisit my notes the next day, things make sense again and I can keep building. Hopefully that will happen this time when I come back and work on formulating a focus.

Here is a selection of the list of questions and ideas I made today while exploring the topic:

• Collage takes the commercial, mass-produced images we are surrounded with and uses them to express a personal point of view
• Combination of photography with drawing and painting - what does new combined medium say about the media contained within it?
• Collage has been used to express everything from political, to personal, to formal/artistic messages - what are the differences?
• What are artists' purposes in using a collage technique? What are my purposes in using this technique instead of just drawing or painting something? What does the media itself add to the communication?
• How does art connect with memory - personal memory, cultural memory
• How to choose imagery to use
• Recycling, appropriating, or stealing - what is the difference?
• When does it become a different image
• What is the difference between collage, montage, assemblage?
• How does collage reflect the experience of modern life?
• How has technology changed the creation of collages?
• Scanners, printers, Photoshop
• The internet itself is a collage - a juxtaposition of many unrelated images
• Collage is democratic - easy to make, readily available materials
• Use of the discarded, trash

Resources explored:

• Bermingham, Anne. "Women's Work: Albums and Their Makers - The Art of Victorian Photocollage." Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY, 7 Mar. 2010. Recorded lecture. 
• "Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage." Art Institute of Chicago. Web.
• Flood, Richard, Massimiliano Gioni, and Laura J. Hoptman. Collage: The Unmonumental Picture. London: Merrell, 2007. Print.
• Taylor, Brandon. Collage: The Making of Modern Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Print.