Introducing...The wonderful wild collage-work of André Bergamin and his mad-cap magazine skills

André sent his work in via the It’s Nice That Facebook page, and we liked it the moment we laid eyes on it. Collages are pretty in at the moment with a lot of people trying their hand at them, but something about André’s just seem so…well put-together. With flashes of colour and shapes surrounding usually political and editorial images from old copies of Life magazine, André creates whole new and exciting images out of overlooked old ones. We wanted to ask him a little about his process and working day, so without firther ado here he is…

Where do you work?

I work in studio in the attic at home. I ended up sleeping there too, so I’m not really sure whether to call it my workplace or my bedroom.

How does your working day start?

I am a bit disorganised so how my working day starts will depend entirely on the project I’m working on and its deadline. When I have the time, I like to be as ritualistic as possible before getting down to it; I drink some coffee, read the newspaper, try to get some inspiration for the work by researching or thinking about the visual concept of what I’m trying to illustrate. When time is scarce I just start my process as soon as I wake up, even if it means skipping breakfast or lunch. 

How do you work and how has that changed?

What I usually do is to browse my magazines until I find something that I like or that gives me an idea. I scan this image and start thinking about the composition as I add other images. My process is basically to “kidnap” images from their original place and relate them with other displaced elements. 

What I feel has changed in the way I do things is the fact that now I am much more concerned with the final outcome of the piece. Now I tend to focus on the concept and how I want to translate it graphically more then on the process itself. 

Where would we find you when you’re not at work?

The supermarket.

Would you intern for yourself?

Well, since I do have to perform my own menial tasks, I guess I am already working as my own intern in a way. Not sure how valuable the experience has been though.