Montage

I’m not going to lie. When I first started reading Einstein’s piece on montage I actually did not understand what exactly he was talking about. It wasn’t until the end of the piece, and after reading it for a second time that a got a better grasp on the meaning of montage. I am not very familiar with film and/or instruments which may be part of the reason why this idea was new to me. When Einstein starts talking about how montage comes from rain, wind, the walking of feet, I started to gain more of an understanding. Montage is the impact and relationship of a sound. Whether it is the sound of an orchestra, a simple note on the piano, or even the honking of a horn, a feeling/statement arises from this. I strongly agree that even something with no sound can have montage. A still painting can be louder than any song on the radio. The job of an artist is to create montage through inventing a combinations of techniques that become a whole- just like the way a chef throws together a series of ingredients to make a gourmet meal. This is the connection that all artist have: Their ability to make montage. Whether it be a photograph, food, painting, drawing, poem, clothing, film, design, etc, these productions all have a common connection: montage. I am very glad that I am familiar with this term know because as an artist I most defiantly notice montage everyday when I come across something that catches my attention. Whether it be something like the agitation of water, the blowing of trees in the wind, the clanking of bracelets on a wrist, the appearance of an acorn, the typing of keys on a register, and the list goes on, I can start to understood why things catch my interest.

“I am kino-eye.

From one person I take the hands, the strongest and most dex-terous;

from another l take the legs' the swiftest and most shapely;

from a third, the most beautifu| and expressive head-

and through montage l create a new, Perfect man”

“I am kino-eye, I am a mechanical eye l, a machine, show you the world as only I can see it”

These two quotes written in Vertov’s piece really encompass art and the use of montage just as Einstein explains. The kino-eye in my opinion is the gift and ability to create montage.

Reading these two articles reminds me of a project I did my senior year of high school in my dark room photography class. Our assignment was to pick a poem we liked, a shoot a series of images in relation to the poem, than put the finally production together as a video. Little did I know that I was putting my images together in sequence with the sounds of the poem through montage. 

Cut- Sylvia Plath