The topic of my Pecha Kucha was Surrealism. Homer and Kahle (1986) define surrealism as a form of art that was devised to capture the idea of dreams and similar extraordinary experiences. I find Surrealism particularly interesting because it provides an escape from the restrictions of reality and allows for an unconstrained form of expression.
Surrealism came about after WW1 in Paris. Dadaism (the movement prior to Surrealism) also attempted to redefine social constructs about art and life and thus through this Surrealism was created. This extension of Dadaism was developed by Andre Breton in 1924 with his ‘Manifesto of Surrealism’ (Lusty, 2016). Europe experienced great devastation after WW1 particularly within their political system (Cornelius, G, M. 2015). Breton lived alone and in near poverty. Therefore his creation of Surrealism provided an escape from the dull restrictions of reality (Thiher, 1997).
Breton was inspired by primitive and tribal objects, and he sought to explore if Surrealism existed in other parts of the world. Mexico was one of the main countries that resonated with Breton and he recognised it as a completely Surreal society. Breton was fascinated at how Mexican culture stylised typically tragic events such as ‘The Day of the Dead’ to portray humour and joy (Bakhtiarova, G. 2017).
In modern society, Surrealism has been enhanced through technologies such as photoshop and Virtual Reality. James Popsy employs Photoshop in his juxtaposing images that he shares through social media (Charlie, 2018). These light hearted images convey irony and contradictions in a humorous way. Virtual Reality also often creates Surreal worlds through the digital art. The 3D Virtual Reality ‘Dreams of Dali’ reproduces Salvador Dali’s surreal painting called “Angelus”(Maltbie, B. 2016). The dream-like nature of this game allows the user to get completely immersed in this new world.
By Chelsea Buswell.
References:
Surrealism 101: All the Surrealist Art you need to see today | Artsome (2015). Available at: http://blog.artsome.co/surrealism-101-all-the-surrealist-art-you-need-to-see-today/ (Accessed: 11 September 2018).
Homer, P., Kahle, R.(1986). A SOCIAL ADAPTATION EXPLANATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SURREALISM ON ADVERTISING: EBSCOhost. (2): 50-60. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=35418626-3c2f-4855-b719-a98f60c19ba8%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=4663599&db=bsu(Accessed: 24 August 2018).
Lusty, N. (2016). Explainer: Surrealism. Available at: http://theconversation.com/explainer-surrealism-52487 (Accessed: 21 August 2018).
Cornelius, G, M. (2015) Surrealism: Discovery Service for Univof Newcastle. Available at: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=fbf7bb90-f8ad-4a85-b9ee-a6b050f6032b%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=qth&AN=110492612(Accessed: 28 August 2018).
Thiher, A. (1997). ‘Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton Mark Polizzotti’, World Literature Today, (1), p. 111. doi: 10.2307/40152591.
Bakhtiarova, G. (2017) ‘Surrealism on American Soil: André Breton, Edward James and Others in the Jungle’, International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 10(2), pp. 401–405. Available at: http://ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=127795865&site=ehost-live&scope=site(Accessed: 28 August 2018).
Charlie. (2018). Artist Uses Photoshop To Create the Weirdest Surreal Images – UltraLinx(no date). Available at: https://theultralinx.com/2018/03/artist-uses-photoshop-to-create-the-weirdest-surreal-images/ (Accessed: 28 August 2018).
Maltbie, B. (2016). UploadVR. VR Could Create a Haven for the Surrealist Art Movement (2016). Available at: https://uploadvr.com/virtual-reality-creates-haven-surrealist-movement/ (Accessed: 26 August 2018).
Press, A. (2016) ‘Halloween, zombies, films changing Mexico’s Day of the Dead’, The Telegraph, 30 October. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/30/halloween-zombies-films-changing-mexicos-day-of-the-dead(Accessed:29 August 2018)
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