Takeaways:
- Playing with their hands: The students spend most of their day on computers and phones. Shifting to paper, glue, and scissors to communicate ideas felt odd at first, but they leaned into it, had fun, and found it satisfying.
- Experimentation and iteration: Many students made multiple pieces, iterating on techniques as they went.
- Finding calm in the chaos: The students are high achievers and want to do their best. Some struggled at first with the messiness and imperfection of collage. Yet they eventually found the hands-on process relaxing and therapeutic.
Today I taught a Cut Loose Collage Workshop at Williams College for an Asian studies class exploring media messages, identity, and objectification.
Here’s what stood out from the session:
Exploring themes through a creative outlet
Instead of just writing a paper, students appreciated having a hands-on, creative outlet to respond to media images and explore themes like cultural appropriation and objectification. Cutting, pasting, and rearranging images from vintage and current magazines gave them a unique way to deconstruct representation. They felt great using art to engage with these concepts rather than relying solely on a written report. I think they’ll have more original thoughts and responses around the assignment thanks to this fresh approach!
Playing like kids
The students are so used to screens and lectures. It was great to see them play with paper, glue, and scissors like kids. Some of them had never done collage before, but even those students seemed to take to it naturally. We had some ringers in the room, for sure. Everyone got comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think because it was a new, fun challenge, people went heads down and got in the zone.
Going with the flow
My guidance centered on experimentation—go with the flow and see what happens. Don’t overthink, and definitely don’t aim for perfection. Some students struggled a little bit at first, but they got right into it with just a tiny bit of encouragement. Others enjoyed learning as they went. Some students made multiple pieces. It was cool to see them iterate on aspects they liked about their first piece and carry it over to the next piece. One student made four or five pieces. He had the start of a compelling series.
Finding calm in the storm
One student told me the workshop was therapeutic. He talked about leaning into the chaos and “finding his own eye of the storm”, which I thought was fascinating. A lot of people mentioned it was very relaxing, too. I could tell that relaxation wasn’t their top priority as a student. They are high achievers who really wanted to do their best. But as they let loose and experienced the joy of experimentation, they found it genuinely relaxing. The pressure was off, but they still felt productive and accomplished.
Watch this highlight reel of the workshop!
Watch the recap of my Cut Loose Collage Workshop at Williams College. (The fireplace background gives the recap video a Masterpiece Theater vibe haha!)
More recaps from Cut Loose Collage Workshops: