THE THIRD THING

Braintree (2012) layered tape transfers on paper, 14" x 17"

Rare is the artist who can describe in a few words the power of collage. One I’ve found is Todd Bartel, who came onto my radar, and I onto his, in 2012 when he included my piece, Braintree, in the centennial he curated at the Thompson Gallery in Weston, MA. Braintree, like so much of my paper collage, is a straightforward juxtaposition, in that case an ink drawing of a bare tree by Leonardo da Vinci with an overlay of leaves made from a sectional drawing in an old anatomy book that is, truth be told, a section of the stomach (no one notices). Braintree is a town in Massachusetts, and the title might have brought the piece to his attention. I can’t help it if I’m lucky.

I was looking at Todd’s work online recently, and reading/watching his interviews. As a champion of juxtaposition, I was beyond grateful to find – somewhere -- his “practical and cherished” definition of collage:

“A collage is established by putting together two or more collected things—actual or intellectual. Anything coupled is a collage….  In a phrase, “one plus one equals three.” One thing plus another thing equals a third thing—a phenomenological, third thing. The third thing is the true nature of collage. My practical and cherished definition of collage is “the third thing.”

Elsewhere, he added that “collage is odd math” wherein “1 + 1 = 3.” Eureka. I’d been searching for a category title describing a selection of my work that meets his elemental description. I am  very grateful to him for the solution. “Juxtaposition” has no artistic synonym.

Of course, Todd’s work is captivatingly complex (no one makes more poetic use of document repair tape than he), lately, vast landviews, his word, exquisitely imagined and crafted, often double-sided, slipped between glass in hinged frames. No one makes more poetic use of document repair tape than he. Follow him down.