the 5th barcelona conference on arts, media & culture

Title: Beyond Cut and Paste: Collage as Feminist Critique

Stream: Visual Culture

Presentation Format: Oral Presentation (25 min.)

Abstract:

This paper explores the multifaceted role of collage as a feminist strategy for empowerment, protest, and expression, highlighting its significance in the feminist art movement. Collage, characterized by its inherent process of cutting, rearranging, and juxtaposing various elements, is a metaphor for the feminist endeavor to dissect and reconfigure societal narratives about gender and power. We analyze works by prominent feminist artists who employ collage techniques to challenge and subvert traditional gender roles and stereotypes. This study delves into the historical emergence of collage in feminist art, tracing its roots to early 20th-century avant-garde movements and its resurgence in the 1970s feminist wave, when artists used collage to critique social constructs and promote gender equality. By examining contemporary examples, we demonstrate how collage remains a dynamic and critical medium for feminist expression, a mode of resistance capable of accommodating diverse voices and perspectives. We look at how much collage artists interrogate controlling images and visual tropes in popular culture, which can lead to imaginations of alternative feminist futures. Through theoretical frameworks and visual analysis, this paper argues that collage's accessibility and disruptive aesthetics make it an effective tool for feminist protest, capable of forging solidarity and driving social change. The implications of this research suggest that collage not only reflects feminist struggles but actively shapes them, offering a unique and potent means of cultural and political critique.