1940-1970
1940’s
Musique concrete develops as a way of constructing music by mixing recorded sounds. Pierre Schaeffer, an engineer, radio announcer, and originator of work in this vein, created pieces such as etude aux chemins de fer (1948).
1942
Artist Joseph Cornell creates Homage to the Romantic Ballet, one of many box-based assemblages that built three-dimensionally upon collage traditions.
1955-59
Robert Rauschenberg’s Monogram is an example of the three-dimensional assemblages, also known as Combines, that built on the tradition of collage.
1959
Twenty-one years after Chester Carlson invented xerography, the first convenient office copier using xerography was unveiled, the 914 copier by Xerox. This invention would lead to the development of zine culture (pronounced /zēn/). Zines are self-published, small-circulation, magazines or books that often contain original and/or appropriated text and images reproduced via photocopier. Zines often deal with controversial or niche topics that could be challenging to publish via traditional means.
1950’s-70’s
Pop Art: An art movement focused on bringing images from pop culture and mass media into artworks in order to challenge mass consumption of everyday culture. Andy Warhol’s soup cans works showcased Campbell’s canned soup branding as the artwork itself. Richard Hamilton’s collage, Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) features a Tootsie Pop, a vacuum cleaner ad, and a canned ham, among other commercial imagery.
1950’s-70’s
Artist Henry Darger created a massive collection of drawings and paintings using a number of collage, tracing, and copying approaches. An example of his work is Untitled (At Jennie Richee, they admire the beauty of the tropical nimbus clouds), [no date]
1957-1972
Situationism: An art movement founded by Guy Debord, and focused on critiquing capitalism. A key element of situationism was détournement, or the adoption of prevalent words and images from dominant culture and turning them against the system. Debord describes this concept and more in his book, Society of the Spectacle.
1961-1964
Beat writer William S. Burroughs adapted the Dada cut-up approach, and published The Nova Trilogy. The first novel in this series, The Soft Machine, is considered his most recognized cut-up work. The Beat Generation of writers met near the end of World War II and was interested in questioning mainstream politics and culture, changing consciousness, and defying conventional writing.
1963
A group of artists in Germany — Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Wolf Vostell, and others — co-founded Capitalist Realism, a movement inspired by the imagery in newspapers and magazines, and influenced by Pop art in America.
1964
The first VCR for the home was released by Sony. This was a step towards allowing artists to record and view original footage for remixing outside of expensive professional recording studios.