by Muneerah B.

Created on: October 14, 2008

Ludicrous Logic

Watching the opening of 'Un Chien Aandalou' (Luis Bunuel, 1929) is enough to repel anyone. We see a blade slicing through a woman's eye, and just as we get curious to know exactly what's going on, she appears intact and unscathed in the following scene as if it never happened. As surreal as it may sound, that is the exact stance of this art style. A phoenix of the Dada movement, Surrealism embodies the sense of hallucination and cuts deep into the subconscious of man.

In the Surrealist Manifesto, Andre Breton described this art movement as "psychic automatism" and Max Ernst once proclaimed, "I don't paint what I dream, I dream as I paint." These explain the Surrealists' concept of tapping into the subconscious for inspiration. Heavily influenced by the philosophy of Sigmund Freud, Surrealism had its beginning in France and was at its zenith during the 1920's and 1930's. Bizarre juxtaposition is a common trait in all art forms.

At the first glance, Surrealist paintings portray a sense of confusion and irrationality. The prominent names who contributed to the growth of the Surrealist movement include Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Max Ernst and Rene Magritte and their works are largely expressions of their subconscious and translates the artist's metaphysical ideas. For instance, in Magritte's Time Transfixed, the train coming out of the fireplace breaks the tension and monotony of time (represented by the clock on the mantelpiece) and silence. This piece seems to imply the notion of time standing still. Surrealism was also expressed in sculptures, such as Dali's 'Venus de Milo with Drawers', and Miro's 'L'objet du couchant'. The dimensionality and composition of these artworks are visually interesting though it may be awkward and very puzzling at the same time.

Besides two and three-dimensional art, Surrealism also made its mark on other aspects of art, all of which adheres to the concept of fantasy and the subconscious. Surrealist theatre has a whimsical tone of play with visual jokes and an altered sense of time, while the concept of 'automatic writing' (where the Surrealist generates ideas through spontaneity) was said to be practiced in its music. Selected sequences in Surrealist films were edited to slow motion to achieve a dreamy effect, and the plot generally challenged logic, proving that Surrealism has no intention to be sensible or easily understood.

The Surrealist movement reflected a time in history where psychoanalysis theories were first introduced and embraced through these images of melted clocks and elephant-like imagery. Looking at Surrealist art today it sparks off the imagination as we try to explain and define the piece of art that ultimately defies logic.

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