Using digital tools, the modern collagist/photomontagist can manipulate images with precision, control and effects unimaginable with scissors and glue. It's possible to create scenes that make visual sense, that have depth and perspective, that are seamless—a digital trompe l'oeil!

I cut, I paste, I paint. I size, I stretch, I shear. I adjust the hue, I tweak the transparency. I rotate, flip, perspectivize. I want the glass transparent? I make it so. My man's arm is behind a tree? I graft another from someone else. I slice I splice I dice, I stitch people from fragments unrestricted by anatomy or gender, I'm a digital Doctor Frankenstein. I quote out of context, I mangle meaning with impunity; I'm a plastic semantic symbol surgeon. A slip of my mouse can trigger an instant abortion—or unexpected masterpiece. Anything is possible. I drag and click and drop until my eyes and fingers ache.

But dream collage is digital in another important way. The final destination of most image manipulation is paper. Digital dream collage targets the screen. Light—beams of pure photons streaming to the viewer's eyes—is the essential dream medium. Liquid crystal and plasma displays offer stunning luminance impossible to achieve with reflected light, in a package that hangs flat like a painting. In a darkened room, the screens evoke the privacy of the dream world.

Copyright 2005-2008 Paul DiLascia.
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