Assemblage and Collage

Deleuze and Guattari (D&G) introduce their readers to assemblage in chapter one Introduction: Rhizome to lay a framework for their book A Thousand Plateaus.

“There is no longer a tripartite division between the field of reality (the world) and a field of representation (the book) and a field of subjectivity (the author). Rather, an assemblage establishes the connections between certain multiplicities drawn from each of these orders, so that a book establishes has no sequel nor the world as its object nor one or several authors as its subject.” (p. 23)

Assemblage also defined as a whole made up of heterogeneous parts provided me with a theoretical “middle” for contemplating this work.  D&G's usage of assemblage throughout their book as entity brought to mind the collages I created as art projects in elementary school.  The art teacher explained a collages as images and text taken from magazines and newspapers glued to poster board to convey a larger idea to your audience. The concept is a simple one but the end result was a complex and at times seemingly dissimilar montage.

The idea of assemblage as a type of intellectual collage became cohesive for me in chapter five 587 BC-AD 70: On Several Regimes of Signs.  

"We call any specific formalization of expression a regime of sign, at least when the expression is linguistic.  A regime of signs constitutes a semiotic system.  But it appears difficult to analyze semiotic systems in themselves: there is always a form of content that is simultaneously inseparable from and independent of the form of expression, and the two forms pertain to assemblages that are not principally linguistic." (p. 131)

 D&G discuss regimes of signs as an assemblage of symbols that is infinitely connected and circular. The circular aspect of symbols isn't as important as the link it forms in the symbol chain.  It is easy to picture a chain or the Olympic rings as a visual interpretation of this assemblage.  This concept is easily likened to dependent images in a collage.  They stand on their own but the end result or whole is dependent on the connections the images make for the artist and the audience.

In applying the concept of assemblage and regime of sign to my professional work and study, I began to understand how complex assemblages can be.  For instance, A Thousand Plateau's is full of scientific, political, religious and linguistic assemblages.  While I understand the gist of rhizome or geological strata, these concepts would be much more relevant to a botanist or geologist because they understand the symbolic and textual nuances of that assemblage.  The assemblages that make up real property law, cartography, state and federal code, litigation, precedence and surveying, are simple for me to interpret and apply because I have been immersed in their study for 25 years. I now have much more empathy for the pre-law and engineering interns I work with.