Assemblage is an artistic process. It is best summed up as a successful mixing of two- and three-dimensional objects in artistic compositions. Often these compositions are made up of found or otherwise once-discarded objects.
Assemblages have been with us for a long time. People who have nothing better to do, could debate how long it harks back exactly. But certainly, Cubists such as Braque and Picasso worked with assemblage at times as did dadaists such as Kurt Schwitters. You might also want to add constructivist avant-gardist Tatlin to the list. Since then Duchamp, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray and thousands of others have worked within this process. One artist, Robert Rauschenberg, has made the process his signature in particular.
See related terms collage, mixed media, junk art, arte povera and objet trouvé
You can read more about art movements here and about DaDa in particular here.
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