|
Ceci N'est Pas Surrealism
"Surrealism aimed to revolutionize life and art both ... by accessing the subconscious and recording the results. ... Apollinaire coined the term "surrealism" in 1917 to describe a spontaneous verbal creation—one that was beyond, or "sur," reality. ... André Breton ... denounced 'the reign of logic' ... "
" ... Surrealism, together with its precursor, Dada, is generally regarded as a reaction to the climate of despair that surrounded World War I, when it seemed as though Europe's social and technological advances had culminated in nothing greater than its own self- destruction. ... Surrealism was more of a religion or philosophy than an artistic style. Its artists—including Dalí, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, and the poets Jacques Prévert and Paul Eluard, among others—valued any technique that would allow them to make work automatically, the better to freely associate and thereby reach into the collective unconscious."
" ... sexualized nature ... the Surrealists were notably active .... In their lexicon, desire, the open relationship, the chance encounter, and the ménage à trois (or more) loom large, often as an avenue to self-revelation. ... these relationships were the opposite of casual: Desire was frequently accompanied by love, which often led to marriage. ... perhaps the most alluring aspect of Surrealism was that it was open to all ... "
"Surrealism ... prefigured Abstract Expressionism, 1960s Happenings, 1970s performance art ... American cultural life as we know it today would not be possible without it. Most of our visual culture, including music videos, television, and advertising, remains permeated by its typically disjunctive imagery, its knee-jerk desire to shock, and its fixation upon sexuality and the subconscious. ... The Surrealists helped to popularize Freud: Our love of therapy, self- knowledge, personal autonomy, and the child within probably could not have advanced so far without them."
" ... in recent months, we have come to value the common good over individualism and are perhaps more bent on rediscovering humanist values rather than challenging what's left of the status quo. Curiously enough, however, Breton foretold this, too. In 1960, he reflected: 'The sickness that the world exhibits today differs from the one exhibited in the 1920s. ... In France, for example, the mind was threatened back then with coagulation, whereas today it's threatened with dissolution. ... It's perfectly obvious that such a situation calls for different reactions from today's youth.'" ... [more]
2:59:52 PM 
|
|
