I had an amazing 50 responses to this request for
help. For those of you who are interested, I've
attempted to summarize the answers to my query re "term or label for
image
made up of multiples of small images like letters, words, etc." I hope I didn't overlook any. Many
thanks for being so helpful.
Arcimboldo /
Arcimboldo effect
I was aware of Arcimboldo's paintings, but it wasn't what I
was looking for. I was looking for a
relatively contemporary image composed of many small identical or
similar
components, something graphic, in black and white, that I may have seen
in
commercial art or perhaps advertising. In
Arcimboldo's paintings, the fruit, vegetables, etc. are too unlike in
size and
shape.
Image mosaic / Photomosaic
I was not looking for images with photographic components
that make up a larger image. However,
these images were new to me and there's a lot out there about them.
Photomosaic
images are really interesting, the technique or the software is
copyrighted by
Robert Silver (or perhaps just the term?).
Apparently there is other, free, downloadable software to create
the
images as well.
Photo montages /
Photo tiled pictures / Photo tapestries / Composite photo montages
These are other terms suggested for photomosaics
Pixel art (a
version of pointillism) or Composite
images
Chuck Close's portraits were mentioned as an example of
pixel art. Also the work of Graham
Kelman, Chris Jordan
http://gk3dlab.wordpress.com/tag/pixel-art/
http://www.chrisjordan.com/
Micrography /
Microcalligraphy / Calligrams
I was not aware of this either; historically, it began with
the prohibition on images in Jewish texts and Islamic culture;
apparently words
in patterns that result in images circumvent the prohibition.
I was probably looking for a contemporary, secular
descendant
of this.
http://www.jtsa.edu/prebuilt/exhib/microg/index.shtml
Typographic portraits
/ Typographic images / Pictures made of text /
Check these out - these sites have some amazing examples of the
typographer's art:
http://abduzeedo.com/45-amazing-type-faces-typographic-portraits
http://www.artext.co.uk/gallery/typography_kingdom.html
http://weburbanist.com/2009/05/10/the-art-of-words-15-creative-typography-artworks/
<http://tinyurl.com/yedtybp>
http://blog.creativityden.com/the-beauty-of-typographic-portraits/
Text portraits
. A symbiosis out of text and photo,
biography and portrait. A text portrait is a version of lettering and
photo of
a usual portrait, with the difference, that the text (e.g. biography)
and the
photo (e.g. passport picture) create an inseparable symbiosis. The
fusion of
two visually different components to a readable portrait? the text
portrait.
More amazing typography:
Source: <http://yatzer.com/1835_text-portraits_by_ralph_ueltzhoeffer>
The Serif Fairy
by Rene Siegfried (2007). (children's book)
The poor, little serif fairy, composed entirely of Garamond type, has
lost a
wing and travels through a typographic landscape to find it again.
On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Serif-Fairy-Rene-Siegfried/dp/0979048621
Word portraits
Portraits, e.g. of Barack Obama, created with script; See
John Sokol
Text drawing
Drawings created with script, not typography. See
Ayakoh Furukawa
Pushpin portraits
See work of Eric Daigh
Images made with toy
soldiers
See work of Vik Muniz
Images made of a child's handprint
the controversial work of Marcus Harvey
Collage / Photo collage / Montage /
Computer created montage
In light of all the other terms that are more specific, I
don't think these are as applicable as the others.
Type drawing software
/ ASCII Art
e.g., Michelangelo's David, or cows created by text files
(similar images used to be done with typewriter before
computers)
Non-western art
Indian composite paintings; in Islamic art, Arabic calligraphy to
create animals
Semiomorphism
a new, made-up word suggested as an answer