Assemblage is an artistic form or medium usually created on a defined substrate that consists of three-dimensional elements that protrude from or on the substrate. It is similar to collage, a two-dimensional medium. It is part of the visual arts and usually uses found objects, but is not limited to these materials.
The assembly is achieved by incorporating into a work of art not specifically artistic three-dimensional materials and “found objects”, that is, everyday objects that, elevated to the state of the art, allow artists to challenge the traditional idea of art itself. Initially, it is inspired by collage.
“Space, in the agency, does not exercise any 'syntax', it does not impose any principle of order”: “no point of view” is “privileged”, since “every characteristic” wants to “be equally impressive”. In addition, there are no rules for its realization: "the agglomeration of heterogeneous materials can proliferate at will".
The assemblage is one of the most used expressive techniques in the 20th century and has numerous affinities with the mechanisms of the collection, which it uses to obtain formal and semantic coherence. In fact, the ability to unite materials from nature, from different eras and countries, freely and in the same place, has been the exclusive prerogative of collectors; the collection itself can be considered as "the largest possible assembly".
