Surrealism Movement - Essay Example

Surrealism Your Full The of your College/Institute Surrealism is a movement that started around the beginning of the twentieth centurythat came out of the Dada movement. As per the Merriam Webster dictionary, surrealism includes “the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations” (Merriam Webster). The movement was centered in Paris, and was officially started, so to speak, when the Surrealist Manifesto was published in 1924.

There was also a second manifesto published in 1929, both by André Breton. The main objective of the movement, as per these manifestoes, was to revolt against the set artistic (and cultural) traditions and to set the subconscious free to create whatever the imagination of the writer, poet or artist conjured up. The movement is all about freedom: the creator is free to create whatever s/he wants with no regard to aesthetics, morality or even reason. Interestingly enough, Breton, in the First Manifesto clarified that the basic tenets of surrealism are not limited to art only, but can also be applicable to all of our lives.

So it can be assumed that whenever one is liberating one’s imagination, one is engaging in surrealism. A movement of complete freedom, the only thing forbidden in surrealism is to forbid any form of expression. Whether it is discontinuity, or placing completely incompatible objects together, or using fantastical creatures or imagery, everything is acceptable and legitimate in surrealism. Some artists even took to a technique called automatic drawing, whereby they let their hands draw on paper without any conscious thought, however, they did admit that the process was not entirely without conscious effort as they had to render it to be comprehensible on a certain level (Montagu).

Among the more famous of the proclaimed Surrealist artists are Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Kansuke Yamamoto, and Méret Oppenheim. However, there are many artists who have dabbled in surrealism without really proclaiming themselves to be surrealists, for instance, Pablo Picasso. When it comes to surrealist writers, most people find it difficult to understand them, because there is no sense of continuity in them. However, such writers lay more emphasis on the poetic undertones and the overall connotations that their work presents to the readers.

There is a lot of stress on symbolism as well. The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hayat is, perhaps, one of the better known surrealist writings, which is replete with dreamlike imagery and symbolism. Surrealism is also ever preset in the cinema and the theater. Typified by a display of shocking imagery, juxtaposition and a non compliance to the dramatic psychology used in other cinema, surrealist cinema strives to present the irrational as rational. As cinema already requires the audience to put a suspension to disbelief during viewing, it is a very apt medium for surrealists.

Effectively, surrealism is a movement whereby reality is given the metaphorical backseat while dreams and the subconscious are given the proverbial driving seat. It is considered to be a breaking from the norms set in place, and is proclaimed to be a rebellion against such rules that be. References Breton, A. (1969). Manifestoes of surrealism. (R Seaver & H. R. Lane, Trans.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Hedayat, S. (1994). The blind owl. (D. P. Costello, Trans.). New York, NY: Grove Press.

Montagu, J. (2002). The surrealists: Revolutionaries in art & writing, 1919-35. London: Tate Pub. Surrealism (n.d.). In Merriam Webster Online. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surrealism