Assemblage - Picasso

Pablo Picasso created some assemblage artwork along with his famous paintings so I am looking at his assemblage work. The above piece was created using the handlebars and the saddle of a bike. I like this as its so simple and instantly recognisable as a bull's head, but you have to look a little closer to realise what it's made from.

"The Goat (1950) It is easy to forget that Picasso was the first artist to incorporate real objects into his sculptures. As such, he was the forerunner of every modern piece of assemblage, every junk sculpture, every metal construction that contains a recycled iron fitting. He began experimenting in this way during the early Cubist period, but it was a life-long practice. The Goat, made when he was 69 years old, is one of his boldest and most vital three-dimensional constructions. During the war years Picasso had become adept at using the most unlikely materials and objects as the basis for sculptures. In 1950 he was living in Vallauris, in the south of France, with Francoise Gilot. His studio was close to a yard in which potters threw their discarded materials. Here he found a wicker basket used for the goat’s ribs, two ceramic jugs that formed the udders, and the palm fronds that define the face and spine. Other bits of metal were added to the mix and the entire piece unified with plaster. There is a lot of humour in this sculpture, and more than a hint of caricature. It is a mark of Picasso’s self-confidence that he was prepared to make such a work at a time when contemporary sculpture was preoccupied with lonely, anguished images of the human condition. For Picasso, the seriousness was all in the making, not the interpretations by others. From the beginning to the end he took risks that other artists simply could not conceive. The Goat bears witness to a bravura that could never be contained." - this is so interesting and I'd like to create something similar, sticking with the animals theme or possibly more into the human form.

Assemblage is found objects and items used to create sculptures so I'm now going to keep my eyes open for random objects that I can use as part of my sculpture.