Juxtaposition

 Juxtaposition: the act of placing two seemingly unrelated images side-by-side to create new meaning.

One of the trade secrets or strategies of advertising and contemporary art is the unexpected juxtaposition of things unrelated to attract attention, shock, puzzle, or question people's perception of those things.

It’s important to understand that interpretation comes from the viewer. As an artist, one would create a piece of work that places unrelated images together to communicate their interpretation of its meaning. This, however, does not mean that the viewer would interpret what he/she sees as this same intended meaning.  Any interpretations are formed from previous background knowledge and experiences of the individual.  So meaning doesn't necessarily always come from the work, but from the viewer.

A simplified example would be a Popeye action figure next to an olive fruit. Although these two are unrelated in the type of object they are, when juxtaposed together in the same scene the olive fruit gains new meaning (because of our knowledge of Popeye's wife's name "Olive").  Or another could place an image of an old man next to an image of a clock: a number of possible narratives could come from such a juxtaposition.

Part One: 
Use your image bank to randomly place images together.  Spend a few minutes thinking about each juxtaposition and your interpretation of what the message could be.  Come up with 3-5 juxtapositions with solid narratives- these are to be recorded in your DSB. Share your juxtaposed images with a partner.  See what their interpretations are.  If different, discuss where the ideas come from.

Part Two:
The challenge is to create a unified composition that contains an interesting/shocking/thought-provoking juxtaposition.  Try to create unexpected or almost random juxtapositions, and not simply pairs of opposites, that create new meanings. Digital manipulations allow for very obvious placement of images to communicate your intended meaning.  Try not to completely “spell things out” to the audience; leave SOME interpretation to the viewer. Make the viewer think or try to interpret it in different ways.