Joseph Cornell was a surrealist artist who had no formal art education and worked primarily by filling boxes.
He would go to new york thrift shops, and various other places, and collect items he liked. Much of this was victorian bric-a-brac and was collated in his boxes, often with a glass pane on the front. They often gave their own narrative, and the items used in a box were carefully selected (for example, untitled (pink ballet case) consisted of small fake rose petals, a strand of glitter, sea shells, lace, and pot pourri (I am only guessing this from an image). The items are all connected by fragility and simple beauty, much like a ballet dancer.
Kurt Schwitters was a german artist who began collage when he went to berlin and became involved with the dadaists. He picked up rubbish such as bus tickets and newspapers and created collages with them. He also created poems from overheard conversations. He began the Merz movement, which he said meant "reject" or "refuse". He said that waste materials had just as much validity as paint as artistic tools.
These two artists take the idea of collage and subvert it, Cornell creating 3D collages and Schwitters creating philosophically driven collages, from the idea that all items are art materials. The student who I interviewed created a collage from items he found in his late Grandfather's house.
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