Cut, paste and remix your way through this century-spanning history of collage
The term collage – the artistic technique of gluing different elements together – has its origins in the early modernist movement, especially in Cubist works by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. But before such combining of disparate source materials became a mode of the artistic avant garde, collage had eclectic manifestations through history and across cultures – as a method of decorating, a tool for enriching scientific texts, and a means for women to engage with areas of enquiry typically reserved for men. Created to accompany the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s exhibition ‘Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage’ in 2019, this video traces the rich roots of the technique, from the invention of paper in China in 105 CE, to its rebirth as an elevated style of modern art in the 20th century.
Video by National Gallery of Scotland
Animators: Cat Bruce, Becky Manson

videoArt
Finding the spirit of Haiti through a tour of its contemporary art
20 minutes

videoHistory
The dry-stacked stones of Zimbabwe are a medieval engineering wonder
7 minutes

videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes

videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes

videoNature and landscape
After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint
15 minutes

videoArt
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes