Décollage: Technique and Psychology

Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé
Métro Arts-et-Métiers– 1983

This technique fascinates me. It’s a whirlpool of psychology, literature, politics, and imagination. I’m wondering if Les Balayeurs Du Désert titled their song “Décollage” because the process of creating it involved using samples, out of order, from “It Amazes Me.” (See previous post) They ripped segments and chunks of lyrics and vocals off the original, excavating new entities which they blended with modern electronic sounds. The lyrics they chose express Décollage as well, and imply that humans change, sculpt themselves, and ripen through this pulling-off process:

“It Amazes Me”- song

“That I’ve learned to clip my wings
And soften my ways
These are ordinary things
Unworthy of praise”

Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé
Rue Pastourelle 1968

I’m thinking about rewinding, and erasing, but those words don’t feel right. It’s more like carving a statue or a sculpture from a stone- exposure of pieces-

I’m wondering how this process could be rendered in the classroom. We could layer posters, magazines, and pieces of writing…and start tearing….but it’s not fused in between so it might fly all over the place! I’ll have to do more research and imagining.

I love the concept of breaking pieces away. What pieces are we tearing off and why? In what way are we doing it? Haphazardly or with direction and thought? What is left?