Eurotrip

Collage

The title of my collage is “Eurotrip”. The reason I named it this was because the subject of the college is the trip I made with my family to Europe this past summer. We visited Paris, three cities in Belgium, and Amsterdam. I included little pieces of memories and things/ places I enjoyed most, mainly from Paris and Belgium. Instead of putting the combination of photos and objects on plain paper, I decided to make the background a map of central Paris. It is colorful and catches the eye, and gives the background much more meaning than a simple, colored paper.
Several of the objects that I attached to this “map” were placed specifically at their actual locations on the map. For example, the photo taken at the base of the Eiffel Tower was placed at its actual location. This particular picture I placed on a paper spring to make it pop into your face as an effect. I managed to keep a business card from a very famous restaurant in Paris that I really enjoyed and placed it in the area that it was actually located. Also, concealed underneath it is a picture I took in the actual restaurant. With this object, I also introduced a sort of abstract and weird subtheme of “heads” or “body parts” by putting a picture of my head as a latch for the card.
I also put a Belgian version of the metro card at the corner of my creation to signify entry into the world of Europe. There is a sightseeing bus traveling along the river because this was our main source of transportation there. Also included are the Notre Dame, Musee de L’armee, and Stade France at their respective locations. I put two Parisian metro tickets at the top of the collage so that they pinpoint the major train station that we used to get to Belgium. As sort of a gateway from Paris to Brussels, I used a piece of lace that was used to hold together three boxes of fine Belgian chocolate. The reason I used it was because I added a section to my collage fully dedicated to the extraordinary and delicious food I ate in Europe. As you follow the lace, you uncover the modified Brussels restaurant guide.
In this extension of my collage, I cropped several photos that I took in Paris and Belgium of the foods I consumed. I initially did not realize that they would be bent by the nature of this map, but the problem was resolved rather easily. I cut each picture in half and sort of abstractly pasted it on in that manner. Also, I extended my subtheme of body parts by placing my own “floating heads”. Last but not least, as a touch up I outlined everything on the collage in red and blue to stand for the colors on the French flag.