Selection

Selection, when a general area, topic, or problem is identified and initial uncertainty often gives way to a brief sense of optimism and a readiness to begin the search (Kuhlthau).

It is time to settle on a general topic and choose my approach. Although I considered a couple of related topics in my initiation stage, I am pretty quickly focusing on art history and fine art, instead of craft books, because it connects an academic interest of mine with my desire to make some beautiful greeting cards. Making the cards will serve social, practical, and creative purposes in my life. I like making connections like this between my internal thoughts and external activities, but often struggle to find ways to do it. 

There are still several ways I could approach this topic, as I listed in the Initiation post, so I will need to narrow it down more as I move through the next stage, Exploration. The timeframe for the assignment is playing a big role in my selection. I want to choose a manageable scope, and I have less than a week to complete it. I have made up a loose schedule of which stage I should work on each day, coordinated with other things on my calendar. I have to guess how long each stage will take. I am also thinking a lot about what materials I will be able to access within this timeframe and how much I will realistically be able to read in addition to my other coursework. 

Kuhlthau points to conferring with others or making a preliminary search of information available as typical actions in this stage, then skimming for an overview. Unfortunately I can't think of anyone to consult with. Browsing through some articles and books available, I think reading extensively about the history of collage, its development, or critical reception will take too much time and involvement. Looking at the craft collage books available, I see that I have already read almost all of them. I predict that I will have the most success with my card-making goal by studying the work of a few collage artists who appeal to me and looking at what materials and techniques they use. But how far back should I go? Should I focus on contemporary work, or maybe a specific style, like collage in surrealism? Victorian photo collage? 

Max Ernst. The Hat Makes the Man, 1920.
Collage, pencil, ink and watercolor on paper.
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Artchive

Marie-Blanche-Hennelle Fournier
page from The Madame B Album, 1870s
Album of collages of watercolor, ink, and albumen prints
Art Institute of Chicago

Wangechi Mutu. Misguided Little Unforgivable Hierarchies, 2005.
Ink, acrylic, collage, contact paper on Mylar
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
BrooklynMuseum.org

I think I will try to identify some well-regarded collage artists I might want to study in more depth, maybe from a range of time periods, and then see what is available at the public library or the Notre Dame library in order to make a final decision. 

With this much planned, I do feel ready to begin the next stage of inquiry. I have noticed that becoming aware that learning is a process, with several steps, makes me feel much less discouraged about not knowing exactly what I am doing right away. It sounds ridiculous now, but I think I always had this idea in my mind that I was falling behind if I wasn’t diving in, going directly to what I need to know, and absorbing it.