introduction

[heath_...@yahoo.com]

after many years of travel, i have found myself still sitting at my own
kitchen table.

it is only recently that i revisited the principles of Surrealism,
re-reading the Manifesto, and found its various strands weaving back to
a familiar tangle. the crucial focal points: a foundation in the
depths of the unconscious and subconscious, and a knowledge of that
material's importance based in direct experience... a recognition of
the many ways in which our societies suppress, and then habituate us to
suppress for them, our own connection to those sources... the
revolutionary impact which a widespread reconnection with them would
have.

these things seem as relevant now, recurrently relevant, as they were
then.

Breton:

"There is no such thing as 'neo-surrealism.' Anything that presents
itself as such or, these days, sports the label 'revolutionary
Surrealism' is a counterfeit enterprise and must be denounced as an
inposture. And for good reason: from the sole fact that Surrealism, at
the outset, claimed to be the codification of a state of mind that has
manifested itself sporadically in every age and in every country, one
cannot ascribe an end to it any more than one can pinpoint its
beginning. Goya was ALREADY a Surrealist, as was Dante, or Uccello, or
Lautréamont, or Gaudì. Centuries from now, any art that takes new
pathes toward a greater emancipation of the mind will be Surrealist."
-interview with José M. Valverde
(Correo Literario, MAdrid, September 1950)

and so, i decided this was at least one place i should dip my toe, to
see how the water was.

as personal policy, i will strive to stick very close to material
gleaned directly from the unconscious, rather than simply spit out
wacky stuff i made up. for the most part i will use C.J. Jung's method
of Active Imagination for this material, since the level of detail
recall for me is much higher than when i try to glean directly from
dream; and since it comes closer to the creative techniques of
historical Surrealism. i can safely say that i myself am far more of a
Jungian Surrealist than a Freudian one, though, :) so a great majority
of my material will seek depths of that flavor.

as farewell, a fragment noticed in the mind upon waking [by an absent
friend]:

in your eyes, indirectly, i can throw stones.

- aqaraza

[john adams]

Basically the water is a little stale. Welcome though,
and if you don't mind wading through a lot of junk or
setting up some filters it may not be too bad.

Are you interested in an exquisite corpse?

-john

<heath_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1108939170.2...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[heath_...@yahoo.com]

> Basically the water is a little stale.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie..."

> Are you interested in an exquisite corpse?

surely. i have never played online, however, and haven't played
offline in quite a long time. but if you know of a good method that
would work with newsgroup replies, we should give it a go.

- aqaraza

[john adams]

<heath_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1109028235.3...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

>> Basically the water is a little stale.
>
> "That is not dead which can eternal lie..."

And that which is dead can not fly...

>> Are you interested in an exquisite corpse?
>
> surely. i have never played online, however, and haven't played
> offline in quite a long time. but if you know of a good method that
> would work with newsgroup replies, we should give it a go.

It can be done, in the case of writing, as a chain poem leaving
only the last line revealed to the next person, or stanza, or
paragraph, etc., or in the case of a drawing, collage, or something
similar only a portion of the last piece would be exchanged (via
email) until completed.

-john

[surr...@gmail.com]

alright; i am game, as they say. but how shall we leave the prior line
the only visible? perhaps, you could write a line, i could follow it
up, and then you could write a following line, trying not to remember
what you'd written before me...

hm.

- aqaraza

[john adams]

Worth a shot, but not really. If it's a one line
chain poem then more than two people would
need to be involved. So the next line floats
around as new to someone else each time.

<surr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109137085....@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...