Unmonumental // Going to Pieces in the 21st Century

In the contemporary art world, sculpture has become one of the leading forms of conversation leaving behind the conventional methods of molding and carving, but rather a whole new way of piecing together a vast array of found objects, nature and figurative ideas into appropriated, objective forms. In this text, Laura Hoptman explains the development of assemblage from the 20^th century to this day.  The use of putting together found objects and the strategy of using these materials in juxtaposition with each other (without the intention that they are art materials) as a technique of sculpture-making was first given the name "assemblage" by artist William Seitz in an exhibition called "The Art of Assemblage". Its origins are believed to have begun with artworks assembled by Picasso and Duchamp, as well as through the Dada and Surrealist movements. Much of these influences occurred throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s, with the dispute that artists' were in a move of a neo-avant garde. A predominant artwork in relation to assemblage is Robert Rauschenberg's series of Combines, a mixture of paintings and sculptures created in the time-span of ten years. Rauschenberg explained that the connections between the elements in his work were completely by chance, with the familiarity of these objects, by contrast, displaying perplexing appearances. A point was made that assembled art was less a representation of the world rather than a part of it. Today, most things are easily accessible with the growth of new technologies, a shift in the way that we present and produce artworks through sources like the Internet and an effortless contact with the world. The development between the 20^th and the 21^st century is the organization and processes of different materials. A heavy influence of 1980s practice of appropriation is evident in today's neo-neo avant-garde, with sculptural elements being carefully picked as opposed to being aleatory. Sculptures today are represented with a different thought-process, having particular focus on content, but not by forgetting the fundamentals of modern sculpture; but rather, expressing ideas and messages through a contextual approach. This is the twenty-first century interpretation of assemblage, with each sculpture revealing a narrative of today's world.