JUST WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES TODAY'S WORLD SO DIFFERENT, SO APPEALING? RICHARD HAMILTON

We were given this collage by Richard Hamilton to inspire us to create a collage of a modern room. He looked through magazines and cut out pictures of the newest gadgets and styles of the modern home in 1956. He has used a picture of the moon as space exploration was becoming popular. The lady at the top of the stairs is using a hoover which was a new invention as was the tape recorder and the TV.

Similarly, in my collage in class I have chosen a modern city which could be a wallpaper or just a window. The brand new Dior Jadore fragrance, designer shoes, and watches which are from Bazaar magazine, a glamorous candelabra and an ornament of a flamingo. I liked the effects of water and thought that it would be an awesome carpet to have in a room. The sofas are homely and show a range of modern fabrics. I love the colours that are found in today’s technology and I have included vibrant pink paint cuttings. Compared to Richard Hamilton’s picture, my collage is much brighter. I think that to make my work better and more like his I could’ve added more objects or perhaps use more modern technology like phones and computers.        

Richard Hamilton was one of the founders of the Pop Art movement in the year of 1955.  Pop Art included all the media, commercials but was particularly popular to advertisements.   Pop art was the ‘new’ thing as it was influential in advertisements in the US especially in buying homes, cars, toasters, dishwashers etc.

Hamilton wrote that Pop Art was for him; “Popular (designed for the mass audience); Transient (short term solution); expendable (easily forgotten); Low cast; mass produced; Young (aimed at the youth); witty; sexy; gimmicky; glamorous; and last but not least, Big Business”.   

He stated that his collages are filled with images from popular culture but he is not trying to make a statement about pop culture nor embrace it; he used popular images and symbols as fodder to explore an interior realm.

Richard Hamiltons work was first shown in a famous London exhibit called “This Is Tomorrow”. The man in the picture is holding large lolly pop which states the word ‘POP’ on it; this is where pop art was first formed.