History of Surrealism

In analysing the fluid anatomy of reality and the exits from the state of consciousness, we inevitably have to turn to one of the most important artistic currents of the twentieth century - surrealism, which is based on creative processes based on the flow of the unconscious. Surrealism (French: sur - above, réalisme - of reality) is considered to be the epicentre of the 1930s and 1940s, but today, as we see more and more examples of new Surrealist designs or illustrative imitations of that period in the public space, and as we think about creative methods based on unconscious creation, it is essential to grasp the reasons and circumstances of the emergence of Surrealism. The concept itself seems to be comfortable in its applicability to art and leaves room for individual expression, interdisciplinarity and experimentation. The work of many Surrealists is united by a fundamental common thread - an aesthetic that is, at first sight, quite grotesque, and which is in fact nothing less than a reflection of the artist and sometimes of society as a whole.

In fact, when it comes to the application of surrealism to different art forms, it is easy to see that the film and literary industries have been a little more successful than, for example, design. Although there are examples of surrealist design, and more than a few, in the end, when comparing the convincingness of the surrealist world that is created, it is easy to see that many forms of art outperform design, and one can assume that this has always been the case.

Surrealism was born in Paris, France, and soon spread throughout the world. The roots of the movement evolved from Dadaism after the First World War, when artists and intellectuals sought an escape from the harshness of reality. They wanted to reform the world in their own way, and Freud's psychoanalytic theories were a major influence, touching on the unconscious aspect of the brain. The French avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire coined the word 'surrealist' (meaning 'beyond reality') in 1917 in the preface to a new play, and Breton published a manifesto on surrealism in 1924, in which he made it clear that the unconscious must dominate art. He used to organise Surrealist gatherings in his home, where artists were encouraged to create after they had reached an unconscious state (often using Freud's method of mental automatism). This is the only way for the artist, free from inspiration, to revive his dream visions and to reach beyond reality, where the boundary between dream and reality is blurred (78), or, as we might now believe, in this state it is possible to move away, at least for a short time, from the anthropocentric, logical thinking that opens the door to total nothingness. For the artist, it is important to overcome the censorship of consciousness so that words and images can flow freely. The practices of this movement sought to do just that - to break down the mental mechanisms that prevent us from perceiving a higher reality.

1934 m., Salvador Dali, one of the greatest Surrealists of all time, gave a lecture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in which he described the main themes and concerns of his paintings at the time, stating that Surrealism is a symbolic language of the unconscious, a truly universal language, not dependent on education, culture or intelligence, but a language of constants such as sexual instincts, the feeling of death, the concept of the enigma of physical space, or other universally responsive constructs (79). In fact, this description of Dali is typical not only of Freud's psychoanalysis, but also of Jung's archetypes, which, according to him, are mostly constructs of the collective unconscious. They are difficult to grasp or name, and their unfolding in consciousness is not dependent on us. It is as if they are the collective memory of mankind, so deep and so deeply rooted and passed on from generation to generation that, at the conscious level of everyday life, one can only see the tip of the iceberg (80).

Manifesto of Surrealism

So strong is the belief in life, in what is most fragile in life – real life, I mean – that in the end this belief is lost. (81)

With these words, Breton begins a manifesto on surrealism, on the fragility of the world, on faith and futility. The eccentric, sometimes radical tone of the manifesto turns the minutes of reading into an experience to which you want to return. On the subject of literature, Breton's manifesto stresses the simplicity of literature, giving the example of authors who, in their novels, reveal a story down to the smallest detail, as if they were amusing themselves at the expense of the reader. They leave no room for the imagination, and such a primitive depiction is like the glorification of a mediocre society, a surrender to the least intelligent reader. The only option left is to throw the work away, because there is no room for the reader (82). Breton's statement, which is a perfect illustration of the ambition of surrealism, of the effect that one would like to avoid and to produce. A work of art must not reveal details, it must leave questions that allow the viewer to interpret reality and to create a distinctive impression, one that is one hundred per cent independent of the creator, because this impression, created by the individual, is much stronger than one dictated from the outside. And although the example discussed in the Surrealist manifesto is a literary one, I would like to interpret it more broadly as a creative process, which is no less important in the visual arts, including design.

In order to understand surrealism, we want to look theoretically at the components, how and by what means surrealism is created. The literature usually identifies a number of features that are essential:

● Dream-like scenes and symbolic images;

● Unexpected, illogical juxtapositions;

● Strange compositions of simple objects;

● Automatism and a spirit of spontaneity;

● Games and techniques in the creation process to create random effects;

● Personal iconography;

● Visual puns;

● Distorted figures.

These features make it easier to imagine the anatomical body of a surrealist work, but when it comes to the most common techniques used by artists, automatism and juxtapositions are the most common.

78 DEMPSEY, Amy. Siurrealizmas. Kitos knygos. 2020. p. 176. ISBN 9786094273964

79 BURCA, Jackie De. Salvador Dali at Home. Frances Lincoln. 2018. p. 60. ISBN 9780711239432

0 JUNG, Carl. The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.9 Part 1). Princeton University Press. 198. P. 470. ISBN 0691018332

81 Originali citata: „So strong is the belief in life, in what is most fragile in life – real life, I mean – that in the end this belief is lost.“ Andre Breton

82 BRETON, Andre. Manifesto of Surrealism. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2016. p. 40. ISBN 9781541357433