COLLAGE: Defining Collage and Ephemera

From the French meaning “to glue,” collage is a technique that adheres assorted ephemera items (traditionally pieces of paper) onto a new surface or substrate, thus creating a collective fresh image or composition.

The word ephemera, comes from the Greek word ephemeros, that means “lasting only a day.” Paper memorabilia is often designed for a short life, or short span of popularity or usefulness. Clippings from newspapers and magazines? Catalog pages and advertisements? Ticket stubs and brochures? Invitations and menus? Sketches on a napkin? Printed snapshots?

Other materials (pieces of cloth or textiles, perhaps?) loosely fall into an associated realm of ephemera, items collected for personal or historic interest, reminders of events or personal pleasures, items denoting specific places in time. Often-tossed items also get retained as reminders of memorable experiences. Bottle caps and corks? Coasters? Wrist bands? (Collage with added dimensional items starts moving into the context of assemblage art when the surface is no longer flat.)

For years, I’ve saved and saved, particularly from my travels.

Newspapers and magazines are also “go to” places for clippings; Marfa is lucky to have The Big Bend Sentinel. A recent visit to our local art supply store also yielded a nice graphic from their paper bags, woohoo! I’ve collected postcards for decades and I love the vintage one above showing a basin fountain that once graced the city of Marfa; the original cast-iron “swan” base (where water sprayed) was eventually converted to a sundial near the current post office.