Melody a dit and the art of transforming realities.

Art-collage is democratic and available to anyone who wants to experiment with the combination of different media and materials through a pieced-together process. For some, the immediacy in which we can achieve an idea is considered one of the main features of this technique, but for Berlin-based French artist Melody a dit it’s the possibility of not being able to go back once the work is finished that converts this practice into an art of detachment.

Collage is not a trend. It is the response of different generations to a changing world that offers the opportunity to make everything possible without limiting its creator to a specific space.

Karen Santos: How did you start experimenting with collage?

Melody a dit: Four years ago, after doctors discovered I had a jaw abnormality, I had to undergo an operation that required two months of convalescence, in which five weeks were spent with my jaws tied together. Unable to speak, I came back to a teenage passion: paper collage. It was a real trigger. I spent my days just doing that and I realized that it had a huge therapeutic effect on me. Later on, I went back to work and continued with collage at nights, on weekends and whenever I had even a little time. It became cathartic for me. The practice became essential for me to get rid of accumulated frustrations, inner questions or dreams. It became a new language for expressing myself. That's why I chose the alias"melody a dit", which means “melody said” in french.

K: Have you tried any other artistic or design discipline before?

M: Yes and no. Beyond my work as a collagist, I am an event creative planner so I am very interested in scenography and graphic design. My work consists basically in script and visually design events for brands (from fashion shows to pop up stores, for example). It's a creative work that doesn't really require to master any software but rather to guide those who do. Apart from that, I have never had any talent for drawing, painting or other artistic disciplines. What I like about collage is that it doesn't require any particular technique. It's not an elitist practice because it's within everyone's reach. I also like sharing this idea by offering tutorials and charity workshops to allow people to express themselves easily and to convert and free themselves from their emotions into tangible and concrete works.

K: What type of images inspire you?

M: All types of images can inspire me. I have a collection of more than 300 vintage and contemporary magazines. I am often on the lookout for rare magazines from the 60’s at flea markets. I combine these images from the past with other images found in contemporary fashion magazines such as Numéro, Elle or Vogue magazine.

M: What artists inspire your style?

K: I’m a big fan of Stephen McMennamy and his unique style of combining pictures. I’m also keen on Guy Bourdin’s photographs and the way he used to deal with colors. Maurizio Cattelan’s photographs are powerful, quite proactive and with strong hidden messages. Finally, there are those collagists whose work I admire, like Kensuke Koike, Eugenia Loli, Frank Nitty and Anna Wanda Gogusey who is one of my favourite contemporary illustrators. The surrealist films of Gondry and Wes Anderson, or the poems of Tristan Tzara —one of the founding fathers of the Dadaist movement— are big inspirations for me. The music that I am usually playing in my studio is 60’s soul or noise, punk or new wave depending on the mood.

K: What can you tell us about your creative process?

M: In general, everything comes out initially from an emotion stored inside me that needs to be expressed. I spend hours flipping through my stock of magazines. The research phase is very meditative. I usually work with music and let myself go into my thoughts. When I enter into the composition phase, I make associations between different materials until an idea eventually germinates. This can take a few hours or days. When everything is cut and pasted, I feel calmed because, unlike painting, drawing or even digital collage, in paper collage there is no turning back. Once everything is cut and pasted, the image is fixed, you can't touch it anymore. There are always imperfections, but that's part of the charm. It is beautiful exercise for letting go! When I prepare my work for an exhibition, I like customizing my frames with the name of the work screwed on a metal plate. I form the letters on the plate using carbon letters that I transfer one by one by hand. Remember the first tracklists on the covers of punk DIY audio cassettes? It's the same technique! It's until the frame is finished that the work is really finished. I like the idea that collages can live in what I think are beautiful objects.

K: What’s your favorite part of creating a collage?

M: I think my favourite part is when I get to my studio and I have no idea of what I'm going to do. I usually sit on the floor, in the middle of a pile of magazines listening to music. I turn the pages until I freeze with one picture and jump into another. I've been hyperactive since childhood. The practice of collage is the only activity that calms me down. It's meditative for me.

K: What art supplies and materials do you use?

M: Different types of glue, sewing scissors which I find are more precise and finally some exacto knives.

K: What narratives can we usually find in your work?

M: My main subject is women and the elements she interacts with on a daily basis. Her place in society, her role, relationships and environment. If my compositions often feature retro characters and contemporary materials, it's because I work mainly from a mix of current magazines from the sixties and Modes & Travaux (feminine French magazine founded in 1919). From the last one, I obtain numerous images that would be considered sexist today (like a man smoking a cigar in the kitchen while watching his wife preparing dinner or a woman ironing a mountain of shirts while her husband is sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper). This is my favorite playground: take these characters out of their original context and offer them another life, creating a whole new environment around them and transforming the message.

K: What role has technology had on your creative process?

M: Social networks are an infinite source of inspiration for me. You can chat with artists you would never dare to say hello to in the street and that’s great. Apart from that, I recently started experimenting with digital collage in Photoshop. As I'm passionate about travelling, this allows me to take my passion with me, without having to move my studio and my pair of scissors!

K: Is there any upcoming project you would like to share with us?

M: I'm currently working on the art direction for the new album of a Berlin-based dark folk band and I'm preparing my next exhibition of paper collages.

IG: @melody_a_dit

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