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Contemporary Surrealism - what is it?

I'm intrigued by the notion of contemporary surrealism and how we might define such an area? Can it be defined? What are the conditions out of which it arises and how do they differ from the conditions which gave rise to the original movement (if we can use that term)?

Any suggestions?

Perhaps Ernst's notion of 'the cultivation of a systematic putting out of place' might be a good starting point?

Tags: Ernst, Surrealism, contemporary

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Deirdre A. Fox on May 4, 2008 at 20:09

Surrealism, which followed Dada and De Chirica's Metaphysica (sp?) more or less, morphed into graphics and advertising, oddly enough, achieving one Dadaist goal ... "art" distributed to the masses ... at least that's my understanding. We are pretty much accustomed to odd/bizarre arrangements of seemingly unconnected bits/images, and Freud has become a quaint theory -- a caricature. As a paradigm shift, surrealism has had it's day, though some of its associated strategies, like according preference to associational thinking, the subconscious and chance, seem to have become part and parcel of much of art practice.

There are similarities between the turns of the century: the early 1900s had WWI, and we seem to be on the brink of mass conflict (pessimistic on my part); the early 1900s (well, later 1800s through early 1900s) saw great industrial expansion and advancement, and we have great technical and communication/information advancement; the early 1900s/late 1800s were seeing the slide of European countries, and we are witnessing the slide of the US; the early 1900s/late 1800s reacted against academic art, and we are seeing our own age of academic art (albeit the criteria are different). Still, we are so much more jaded. It's difficult to visualize the next paradigm shift, though it seems like it must be a reaction to the speed of information, overload, and very low attention spans.

Permalink Reply by MERLIN on December 25, 2010 at 19:46