The collective nature of surrealism must be abolished
Paul
The only thing collective is the universal
architypes that exist in EVERYONE.
I really hope this is not a peace and
love group, because i know surrealism has
never been about LOVE.
Thank you for listening............
Kwigd144
that this is all just a prank? MOO MOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CREATE CHAOS AS
ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul Heslop
and who's collecting what? I used to collect ducks... is that surreal
enough?
--
Paul. (with time the child draws in...)
--------------------------------------------------------------
where is my mind?.
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
Kwigd144
CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
elag
>
> Paul wrote:
> >
> > DOWN with all surrealist collectivity!!.
> > The only thing collective is the universal
> > architypes that exist in EVERYONE.
> > I really hope this is not a peace and
> > love group, because i know surrealism has
> > never been about LOVE.
> > Thank you for listening............
>
> and who's collecting what? I used to collect ducks... is that surreal
> enough?
Only if you mean that you collect the times when people move to avoid
being hit by flying objects.
Duck.
Duck!
goose...
Morpheal
> Only if you mean that you collect the times when people move to avoid
> being hit by flying objects.
>
> Duck.
> Duck!
> goose...
The only ones you really have to worry about move faster than
superduck. Faster than a Canada goose. Faster than a snowbird.
R.
Morpheal
Surrealism can no longer be destroyed.
You are too late.
Surrealism is now in the mind of "god".
R.
Morpheal
Up with Picard. Down with the Borg.
R.
Paul Heslop
able to leap small Bill Gates in a single bound!
Paul Heslop
Exciuse me! Please remove that finger from my extremities!
Parry
Pro-love, anti-war principles are seminal in surrealism. Not "love"
and "peace" in the debasing christian sense, of course. Collectivity
is also a basic. The term "universal archetypes" means nothing to me.
You might refer to the unfinished FAQ that been posted here several
times.
-- Parry
Kwigd144
JUST FOLLOW ME AND YOU WILL BE
ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Morpheal
Keith Wigdor, the self appointed messiah.
Hey man, you really think you can do it ?
Welcome to make the attempt.
R.
Morpheal
No.
Magick, sorcery and sex are intrinsic to surrealism.
You don't know what you are talking about.
Mr, Kurtz.
Morpheal
>
> Morpheal wrote:
> >
> > elag wrote:
> >
> > > Only if you mean that you collect the times when people move to avoid
> > > being hit by flying objects.
> > >
> > > Duck.
> > > Duck!
> > > goose...
> >
> > The only ones you really have to worry about move faster than
> > superduck. Faster than a Canada goose. Faster than a snowbird.
> >
> > R.
>
> able to leap small Bill Gates in a single bound!
I would find it interesting to meet Bill Gates personally and privately.
He knows something and I know something. It might be mutually conclusive
as to knowing some similar things about the future world.
R.
Kwigd144
elag
Breton on War:
"…we profoundly hope that revolutions, wars, colonial insurrections,
will annihilate this Western civilization."
The Algerian War:
"the cause of the Algerian people, which has contributed in decisive
fashion to the overthrow of the colonial system, is the cause of all
free men."
The (French) Vietnam War:
"Freedom is a Vietnamese word"
Brandon Freels
---BJF
----
Surrealism FAQ
Version 1.1 (February 2001)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Introduction
What is Surrealism?
1.1 Pure Psychic Automatism
1.2 A Short Introduction to the Surrealist Movement
The Surrealist Revolution
2.1 Politics
2.2 Art and Literature
Surrealist Explorations: Play and Creativity
3.1 Automatism
3.2 Forced Inspiration
3.3 The Surrealist Collage
3.4 The Surrealist Object
3.5 Games
Some Surrealist Concepts
4.1 Black Humor
4.2 The Marvelous
4.3 Mad Love
4.4 Miserablism
The Periphery: Precursors, Fellow Travelers, et al.
5.1 George Bataille
5.2 Dada
5.3 Salvador Dali (Avida Dollars)
5.4 The Occult
5.5 Oulipo
5.6 Pataphysics
5.7 Psychoanalysis
5.8 Situationist International
Appendix
6.1 Further Reading in English
6.2 Online Documents
6.3 Online Surrealist Groups
6.4 Online Surrealist Resources
6.5 FAQ Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
Thanks to the common misrepresentations spread throughout the Internet
and academia by individuals hoping to reorient its focus Surrealism is
often misunderstood as an artistic style, a literary movement, a form
of mystical escapism into a world of illusions, convenient weirdness,
and a variety of other banalities. This Frequently Asked Questions was
produced to combat the onslaught of such disinformation. It will be
regularly posted to alt.surrealism, an open forum for discussion and a
dumping ground for anything that falls within the scope of Surrealist
interest.
"Perhaps the greatest danger threatening Surrealism today is the fact
that because of its spread throughout the world, which was very sudden
and rapid, the word found favor much faster than the idea." ---André
Breton, Surrealist Situation of the Object
"Surrealism has declared, in every authentic manifestation, its
commitment to revolution; the displacement of the real import of the
word by inhibitions in the writings of college teachers does not alter
that commitment in the slightest. It merely means that there is
promulgated the illusion that critics have something to add." ---The
Chicago Surrealist Group, reply to The New York Review of Books
WHAT IS SURREALISM?
1.1 Pure Psychic Automatism
Pure Psychic Automatism is the primary and natural condition of the
mind and all its faculties free from the interference of external
constraints such as rationalism, aestheticism, utilitarianism, and
religious superstition. This autonomy is achieved only when the
socially constructed apparatuses of repression are dismantled and
those ostracized characteristics of the mind (innovative imagination,
uncompromised desire, and so on) are reintegrated into everyday life,
delivering the mind to a state of free development and spontaneity. It
is in this state, where the individual has regained the primeval
senses, that the mind can move forward to an untainted awareness of
existence, which is the most complete experience of reality---a
surreality. Pure Psychic Automatism is synonymous with Surrealism.
"SURREALISM, n. Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one
proposes to express---verbally, by means of the written word, or in
any other manner---the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by
thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt
from any aesthetic or moral concern." ---André Breton, Manifesto of
Surrealism
"Surrealism is not a new means of expression, or an easier one, nor
even a metaphysics of poetry. It is a means of total liberation of the
mind and of all that resembles it ... Surrealism is not a poetic form.
It is a cry of the mind turning back on itself, and it is determined
to break apart its fetters, even if it must be by material hammers!"
---Declaration of January 27, 1925
"Surrealism, a unitary project of total revolution, is above all a
method of knowledge and a way of life; it is lived far more than it is
written, or written about, or drawn. Surrealism is the most
exhilarating adventure of the mind, an unparalleled means of pursuing
the fervent quest for freedom and true life beyond the veil of
ideological appearances." ---Franklin Rosemont, Andre Breton and the
First Principles of Surrealism
1.2 A Short Introduction to the Surrealist Movement
The Surrealist Movement was founded in Paris in 1924 for the sole
purpose of changing reality through the dissolving of orthodoxy, the
liberation of the mind, and the reintegration of the inner necessities
with the exterior life. Opening the Bureau of Surrealist Research and
eventually publishing two journals (The Surrealist Revolution and
Surrealism in the Service of the Revolution) the original group's
initial focus was on uncovering and exploring the techniques that
capture the real functioning of thought. In their program these
investigations (from sleeping trances to automatic writing) were
adjoined to scalding critiques of both the repressive art and
literature of the time and the culture of rationalism in general.
Through the 1930s the movement continued to grow in infamy and
influence with groups appearing in the United Kingdom, Japan,
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Belgium, Portugal, Egypt, and a
variety of other countries. This fecund period ended with the Second
World War, when the Paris surrealists were dispersed or detained.
Following the war the movement found itself fragmented. André Breton
could only partially reconstitute the Paris group, as its former
members were no longer on a common course. Opposition to Breton's
increasing interest in esotericism led to splinter groups and
competitors, such as Isadore Isou's Lettrist Movement and CoBrA. In
1966, with the approval of Breton, the first indigenous surrealist
group in the United States was formed in Chicago by Paul Garon and
Franklin and Penelope Rosemont, which has remained the most visible
group writing in English, printing a variety of publications such as
their journal Arsenal: Surrealist Subversion. In September of 1966
Breton died and in March of 1969 the Paris group officially disbanded.
However, the majority of the group reemerged in 1970 with the Bulletin
de Liaison Surrealiste.
Today the movement is a decentralized and international constellation
of groups and individuals committed to Surrealism's resilient
principles. It remains a work in progress, and along with the older
collectives (in Paris, Chicago, and Prague), smaller groups of
surrealists continue to form around the globe to work in the margins.
Among recent groups are those in Stockholm, Leeds, Madrid, Argentina,
Wisconsin and Minnesota. Whether these groups will only change the
individuals involved or if they can have a broader impact is a
question of little importance. Rather, they are certain that the drive
for liberty is unstoppable, and that a revolution that redresses the
human condition will necessarily be surrealist.
THE SURREALIST REVOLUTION
The two principle expressions of the movement's thrust for complete
freedom are its political nature and its creative output: the first of
which criticizes culture for repressing the internal necessities, and
the second of which seeks to release them.
2.1 Politics
The movement's political stance, which developed out of Dada's spirit
of revolt and vague anarchism, hardened in 1925 as a response to the
resurgence in French patriotism and militarism when France sent an
army to put down an independence movement in Morocco. Resolving that a
revolution in consciousness cannot transpire independent of a
revolution in man's material condition the Paris surrealists began an
association with the Communist Party. During their brief alliance with
associates of the hard line Clarté periodical, who were uniquely
sympathetic to surrealist stands and who shared a common goal in
working to subvert bourgeois culture, efforts by the surrealists to
demonstrate their Party loyalty were repaid with belittlement and
interrogations. To the Communist Party their synthesis of Marx and
Freud was an obstacle to total commitment to the Party.
In addition, there was a conflict over the direction of revolutionary
art. The Communist International had developed the concept of
"proletarian literature," which reduced art to the role of propaganda,
and later the Soviet Writers Congress officially adopted the doctrine
of "socialist realism," which the surrealists denounced as an attempt
to enclose art's revolutionary message in the conservative forms of
19th century bourgeois aesthetics, entirely antithetical to
creativity. The surrealists argued that art's revolutionary value
cannot be reduced to its obvious manifest message. The artist requires
absolute freedom to create new means of expression and deal with such
fundamental matters as psychology and sexual freedom, concerns the
Communist Party considered decadent. Through the 1930s the surrealists
grew more distant from the French Left and from Moscow, and in 1935
they broke away from the Communist Party altogether.
By the late 1930s, fascism had risen in Germany, Italy and Spain with
the complicity of the western democracies, themselves having become
increasingly oppressive. The surrealists continued to issue statements
denouncing French policy on the Spanish Civil War, the Moscow trials
of the Stalinist purge, and the Munich talks. In 1938, Breton and Leon
Trotsky proposed the creation of F.I.A.R.I. (Fédération internationale
de l'art révolutionnaire indépendant), an international association of
Marxists and anarchists to pursue a revolutionary art opposed to the
decree of fascist dictatorship, bourgeois democracy, capitalism (art
for art's sake), and Stalinism (social realism). Though hopelessness
was setting in among anti-war activists, F.I.A.R.I. groups were
organized in France, Mexico, Argentina, England and the U.S. The Paris
group started a review, Clé, which lasted but two issues, just long
enough to record the deteriorating political climate.
Since the 1940s surrealism has remained non-aligned, often affiliating
with and supporting a variety of revolutionary movements that oppose
the existing conditions of the social, political, and cultural order,
and issuing opinions on contemporary political matters (such as
advocating for world disarmament, denouncing French colonialism in
Indochina and Algeria, protesting the Soviet intervention in Hungary,
applauding the outset of the Cuban Revolution before it was aligned
with Russia, and, more recently, siding with those responsible for the
Los Angeles Rebellion of 1992). In its modern development the
political position of Surrealism can be summed up by the finale of the
Chicago Group's Declaration of War (1971):
"Let us speak plainly. Until the last convict is out of prison and the
last 'madman' out of the asylum; until the last army has been
disbanded and the last government overthrown; until the last church
has been burned and the last bank pulverized; until the last
capitalist and the last cop have been hanged to death with the guts of
the last politician and the last priest; that is, until men and women
are truly free, surrealism will continue relentlessly to provide
miraculous weapons with which to struggle for this freedom."
2.2 Art and Literature
For the surrealist the use of art and literature is unconditionally
directed at the unleashing and exploring of the imagination, free from
such retarding devices as premeditation and aesthetics, so that the
work can be ruled by desire alone and cover, as Breton stated in
Surrealism and Painting, "the whole psychophysical field (in which
consciousness constitutes only a very small segment)." The surrealist
use of art and literature stands opposed to the notion of talent and
the domination of so-called specialists. Following in the footsteps of
Lautréamont's famous maxim that "poetry must be made by all,"
surrealists appreciate art and literature for their ability to
manifest the individual's internal and emotional order, and believe
that everyone has the capacity and necessity to create.
"... surrealist painters, who are poets, always think of something
else. The unprecedented is familiar to them, premeditation unknown.
They are aware that the relationships between things fade as soon as
they are established, to give place to other relationships just as
fugitive. They know that no description is adequate, that nothing can
be reproduced literally. They are all animated by the same striving to
liberate the vision, to unite imagination and nature, to consider all
possibilities a reality, to prove to us that no dualism exists between
the imagination and reality, that everything the human spirit can
conceive and create springs from the same vein, is made of the same
matter as his flesh and blood, and the world around him." ---Paul
Éluard, Poetic Evidence
"The art of painting, as I conceive of it, consists in representing
through pictorial technique the unforeseen images that might appear to
me at certain moments, whether my eyes are open or shut." ---Rene
Magritte, from a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Barnet Hodes
"Centuries from now, any art that takes new paths toward a greater
emancipation of the mind will be Surrealist." ---Andre Breton, from an
interview with Jose M. Valverde
SURREALIST EXPLORATIONS
3.1 Automatism
Automatism is a behavior of the body whereby subverting the restraint
of consciousness an individual is compelled to perform involuntary
motor or verbal activities. It can be achieved through a variety of
techniques, the best known being the practice of automatic writing
which Freud advocated as a way of getting around self-censorship. This
technique originated with the Spiritualists who were the source of the
trance sessions and other devices employed by the surrealists. The
surrealist use of these devices, it is worth remembering, is not one
of Freudian therapy or absurdities like communicating with the dead,
but for liberating the imagination. The results of automatism can be
found in the paintings of Joan Miro and André Masson, in André Breton
and Philippe Soupault's The Magnetic Fields, and in the sleeping
trances of Robert Desnos. It is a common misconception that
surrealists object to any revision of a text that has been written
automatically. In fact, after the initial experiment of The Magnetic
Fields automatic texts have been habitually edited.
"The whole point, for Surrealism, was to convince ourselves that we
had got our hands on the ‘prime matter' (in the alchemical sense) of
language. After that, we knew where to get it, and it goes without
saying that we had no interest in reproducing it to the point of
satiety; this is said for the benefit of those who are surprised that
among us the practice of automatic writing was abandoned so quickly."
---André Breton, On Surrealism and Its Living Works
"I resolved to obtain from myself ... a monologue spoken as rapidly as
possible without any intervention on the part of the critical
faculties, a monologue unencumbered by the slightest inhibition and
which was, as closely as possible, akin to spoken thought." ---André
Breton, Manifesto of Surrealism
3.2 Forced Inspiration
Forced Inspiration is the liberation of imaginative associations
through the suggestive quality of a particular perception that gives
way to the dictation of the internal and emotional order, revealing
the veiled-erotic. This method of creative interpretation, which has
been utilized in the teachings of Leonardo da Vinci, in the everyday
activity of cloud watching, and in psychoanalysis through the
Rorschach Ink-Blot Test, was first used within the realm of Surrealism
by Max Ernst who theorized in his Beyond Painting a technique called
Frottage, whereby crayon or graphite is rubbed on paper which as been
placed over an object or texture with the hopes of revealing or
inspiring an image. Since then a number of similar techniques all
focused on revealing or inspiring previously unforeseen images out of
ambiguity have developed, such as: Decalcomania (pressing paper on a
non-absorbent surface of which gouache, ink, or oil paints have been
spread, originated by Oscar Dominquez), Fumage (passing paper over a
smoking candle, originated by Wolfgang Paalen), and Grottage
(scrapping paint from the surface of a painting, originated by Ernst).
Salvador Dali's Paranoiac-Critical Method is also an example of Forced
Inspiration, but its imaginative associations do not come from an
ambiguous source, instead they come from a more defined perception,
creating a double image or even a chain of images. Forced Inspiration
is synonymous with Interpretive Delirium.
3.3 The Surrealist Collage
The Surrealist Collage is a method of gluing together the displaced
bits and pieces of originally unrelated images onto a flat surface to
create a new unforeseen image, most notably seen in the works of Max
Ernst. This principle of displacement can also be used with language
and other forms of creativity, such as with Lautréamont's famous line
from Maldoror: "As beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing
machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table."
"The value of the image depends upon the beauty of the spark obtained
... the two terms of the image are not deduced from the other by the
mind for the specific purpose of producing the spark, [but rather]
they are the simultaneous products of the activity I call Surrealist,
reason's role being limited to taking note of, and appreciating, the
luminous phenomenon." ---André Breton, Manifesto of Surrealism
3.4 The Surrealist Object
The Surrealist Object is an object, real or imaginary, that has been
removed from its original utilitarian role within the confinement of
everyday life by the dictation of the internal and emotional order.
The earliest known collector of these objects was the German writer
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg who, in 1798, completed a list of
imaginary instruments, the most popular being "a bladeless knife with
the handle missing." Since the first group exhibition of Surrealist
Objects in 1936 numerous types of objects have been invented or
theorized, such as: the Found Object, the Natural Object (such as
stones or shells), and the Perturbed Object (deformations), all of
which rely on how the object interacts with the finder's interior
necessities. Other objects include the Interpretive Object (an object
physically or interpretively transformed by the finder) and the
Poem-Object (a poem in which several of the words are replaced with
physical objects).
3.5 Games
The surrealist use of games, like that of art and literature, is
primarily focused on the subversion of premeditation and rational
constraints, but in addition it is also a subversion of the artist's
ego with the potential for revealing the Marvelous heavily relying on
the release of collective creativity. The most famous of these games
is the Exquisite Corpse, a game of paper folding whereby each player
creates an incomplete image or phrase that is unseen by the other
players who will then complete the image or phrase. Specific rules are
required for the linguistic version of the game: player one writes a
definite or indefinite article and an adjective, player two writes a
noun, player three writes a verb, player four writes another definite
or indefinite article and an adjective, and player five writes another
noun. The first sentence obtained from this method was "The exquisite
corpse shall drink the new wine." Another game is the game of Question
and Answer (also known as the Game of Definitions), whereby a question
or word is provided by one player, and an answer or definition is
provided by another player who has no knowledge of the question or
word provided by the first player. The question and answer (or word
and definition) are put together to reveal the results, such as:
What is the desert? A dove alighting on a flame.
What is evolution? A calligraphic box of anatomical forms.
SOME SURREALIST CONCEPTS
4.1 Black Humor
Black Humor is a type of humor, often ironic and macabre, where the
drive for pleasure surmounts the trauma of the exterior world. An
example taken from Freud would be that of a man sentenced to be
executed on a Monday who exclaims, "What a wonderful way to start the
week!" Exemplary in the works of Jacques Vaché, Jonathan Swift, and
the Marquis de Sade.
4.2 The Marvelous
In its central characterization the Marvelous is a revolt against and
an overturning of common sensibility that is guided by desire and
governed by pleasure. In Mad Love Breton recognized three distinct
manifestations of the Marvelous: fixed-explosive (the juxtaposition or
unification of two distant features), magic-circumstantial (a
coincidence manipulated by desire; synonymous with Objective Chance),
and veiled-erotic (the alternating between two or more coherent
perceptions). All of these manifestations rely heavily on the freeing
of the individuals own subjectivity and imagination, and a
reorientation to the inner necessities. The Marvelous is synonymous
with Convulsive Beauty.
4.3 Mad Love
Mad Love is an overwhelming and excessive pursuit of love driven by an
irrational momentum that is often compulsive and spontaneous, and has
little to do with choice and more to do with internal necessity.
"Only love in the sense that I understand it---mysterious, improbable,
unique, bewildering, and certain love that can only be foolproof,
might have permitted the fulfillment of a miracle." ---André Breton,
Nadja
"The act of love, just as with a painting or a poem, is discredited if
he who surrenders to it does not do so in a trance." ---André Breton,
Apertures
4.4 Miserablism
Miserablism is an inurement to misery, occurring when the deficiencies
of existence are accepted as normal or unavoidable. Defined by Breton
as "the depreciation of reality in place of its exaltation" and
further elaborated by the Chicago Surrealist Group as "the
rationalization of the unlivable," Miserablism is one of the main
enemies of Surrealism, cultivated by economic rationalism and
religion.
THE PERIPHERY: Precursors, Fellow Travelers, et al.
This is not an exhaustive list of the periphery, but rather a short
list of groups and individuals from the periphery who have, at times,
been relative to the discussions at alt.surrealism. Further
suggestions and participation within this section is encouraged.
5.1 Georges Bataille
Under construction
5.2 Dada
Under construction
5.3 Salvador Dali (Avida Dollars)
Under construction
5.4 The Occult
Under construction
5.5 Oulipo
Under construction
5.6 Pataphysics
Under construction
5.7 Psychoanalysis
Under construction
5.8 Situationist International
In 1956 two para-surrealist groups, the International Movement for an
Imaginist Bauhaus and the Lettrist International, met at the First
World Congress of Liberated Artists and soon after unified (along with
the fictional London Psychogeographical Association) to form the
Situationist International.
Instead of passively accepting what the commodity system has made of
living (a boring mess of alienation and separation) the Situationist
International chose as their basic premise the construction of a new
way of life. Their social critique of capitalism, as theorized in Guy
Debord's Society of the Spectacle, began with their identification of
the spectacle, a web of images and representations (such as
advertisements, television, sports events, newscasts) that develops
from the perspective of those in power. The spectacle is collectively
viewed and constantly renewed, turning the individual into a passive
receptor by replacing leisure (what do I want to do today?) with
entertainment (what do I want to see today?). The individual is no
longer active, but exists in a petrified state of buying and selling
experiences.
For the Situationist International the spectacle could be subverted
and a new way of life could be discovered by the individual's
management and construction of situations, those temporary settings of
life that are characterized by a superior emotional quality. The
construction of situations would be based on the theory of Unitary
Urbanism, defined as the use of an ensemble of arts and techniques
that would contribute to an integral composition of the urban space or
environment, recovering that space from the manipulation of the
spectacle. Unitary Urbanism would rely on the method of detournment,
whereby a preexisting artistic element is reused in a new ensemble,
and the field study of Psychogeography, defined as the gathering of
information on how the environment influences the psychology of the
individuals. This information can be discovered through the method of
the dérive, a transient passage through a variety of ambiances, and
once the proper information is obtained it would be applied to the
construction of situations.
The Situationist International remained somewhat obscure until 1966
when they published Mustapha Khayati's On the Poverty of Student Life
at the request of and funded by the student union of the University of
Strasbourg. The pamphlet, which lambasted universities for
institutionalizing ignorance and ridiculed modern culture and its
officials, was denounced as a misappropriation of public funds. The
result was a public scandal and the closure of the student union.
Khayati's highly distributed pamphlet eventually found its way to the
University of Paris at Nanterre in early 1968, and inspired a group
known as the Enragés to graffiti the walls of the campus with
Situationist slogans and to sabotage lectures. A general protest
followed in May where students engaged in political discourse and even
questioned the idea of the university itself, which eventually lead to
the closure of the college on May 2nd. Action committees set up by the
Situationist International and the Enragés were struck to spread the
protest to schools and factories throughout France, and by May 21st
Paris was paralyzed by a general strike. For this brief period France
appeared to be on the brink of revolution, but de Gaulle regained
power with the assistance of the military and dissolved the situation.
Despite the growth of interest in their ideas following this period
the Situationist International disbanded in 1972.
APPENDIX
6.1 Further Reading in English
Surrealist Authors: Louis Aragon ("Paris Peasant," "Treatise on
Style"); André Breton ("What is Surrealism? Selected Writings [ed.
Franklin Rosemont]," "Manifestoes of Surrealism," "Surrealism and
Painting," "Nadja," "The Communicating Vessels," "Mad Love," "Arcanum
17," "The Lost Steps," "Break of Day," "Free Rein," "Anthology of
Black Humor," "Conversations: The Autobiography of Surrealism," "The
Magnetic Fields [with Philippe Soupault]," "The Immaculate Conception
[with Paul Eluard]"); Leonora Carrington ("Down Below," "The Hearing
Trumpet"); Robert Desnos ("Liberty or Love," "Mourning for Mourning,"
"Selected Poems"); Max Ernst ("The Hundred Headless Woman," "A Little
Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil"); Michel Leiris ("Aurora," "Brisees:
Broken Branches"); Pierre Mabille ("Mirror of the Marvelous");
Benjamin Péret ("Death to the Pigs," "A Marvelous World").
Anthologies: "The Poetry of Surrealism" (ed. Michael Benedikt), "A
Book of Surrealist Games" (ed. Mel Gooding), "The Shadow and Its
Shadow: Surrealist Writing on the Cinema" (ed. Paul Hammond), "The
Autobiography of Surrealism" (ed. Marcel Jean), "The Custom-House of
Desire" (ed. JH Matthews), "Investigating Sex: Surrealist Discussions
1928-32" (ed. Jose Pierre), "Surrealism" (ed. Herbert Read), "Refusal
of the Shadow: Surrealism and the Caribbean" (ed. Michael Richardson),
"Arsenal: Surrealist Subversion 4" (ed. Franklin Rosemont), "The
Forecast is Hot!" (ed. Franklin Rosemont), "Surrealism and Its Popular
Accomplices" (ed. Franklin Rosemont), "Surrealist Women" (ed. Penelope
Rosemont).
While the best critical overviews of and introductions to Surrealism
are Franklin Rosemont's introduction to "What is Surrealism? Selected
Writings of André Breton," Penelope Rosemont's "Surrealist Women," and
the many books of JH Matthews, the following books merit attention as
they were used as sources for this FAQ: Sarane Alexanderian,
"Surrealist Art"; Jacqueline Chénieux-Gendron, "Surrealism"; David
Gascoyne, "A Short Survey of Surrealism"; Helena Lewis, "The Politics
of Surrealism"; Maurice Nadeau, "The History of Surrealism"; Rene
Passeron, "The Concise Encyclopedia of Surrealism"; Jose Pierre, "An
Illustrated Dictionary of Surrealism."
6.2 Online Documents
What is Surrealism? by Andre Breton:
http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/whatsurr.html
What is Surrealism? by Andre Breton (alternative link):
http://www-e815.fnal.gov/~romosan/surrealism.html
Declaration of January 27, 1925:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1925surrealism.html
Murderous Humanitarianism:
http://www.postfun.com/racetraitor/features/murderous.html
6.3 Online Surrealist Groups
The Chicago Group: http://www.surrealism-usa.org/
The Czech & Slovak Group: http://home.ti.cz/~surreal/surrealindex.html
The Netherlands Group:
http://www.geocities.com/surrealisme_in_nederland/
The Paris Group: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jjmeric/
The Portugal Group: http://members.tripod.co.uk/surrealismo/
The Stockholm Group: http://www.users.wineasy.se/vertsurr/
Surrealists in Minnesota: http://www.magneticfields.org/
The Wisconsin Group:
http://www.execpc.com/~bogartte/Counterclockwise.html
6.4 Online Surrealist Resources
The Library: http://www.kalin.lm.com/author.html
No More Words: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rmutt/dictionary/NoMoreWords.html
Surrealist Writers: http://www.creative.net/~alang/lit/surreal/writers.sht
6.5 FAQ Acknowledgements
Brandon Freels (brandon...@netzero.net): principal author, editor.
Parry Harnden (ame...@norlink.net): contributing author.
February 10, 2001
Paul Heslop
Bill is evil
Parry
> Parry wrote:
> >
> > Paul <rrs...@transbay.net> wrote in message news:<3E556EAD...@transbay.net>...
> > > DOWN with all surrealist collectivity!!.
> > > The only thing collective is the universal
> > > architypes that exist in EVERYONE.
> > > I really hope this is not a peace and
> > > love group, because i know surrealism has
> > > never been about LOVE.
> > > Thank you for listening............
> >
> > Pro-love, anti-war principles are seminal in surrealism. Not "love"
> > and "peace" in the debasing christian sense, of course. Collectivity
> > is also a basic. The term "universal archetypes" means nothing to me.
> > You might refer to the unfinished FAQ that been posted here several
> > times.
>
> Breton on War:
>
> "…we profoundly hope that revolutions, wars, colonial insurrections,
> will annihilate this Western civilization."
Or even "Open the Prisons! Disband the Army!" or "We adhere to the
International Congress Against War..."
> The Algerian War:
> "the cause of the Algerian people, which has contributed in decisive
> fashion to the overthrow of the colonial system, is the cause of all
> free men."
"The Declaration Concerning the Right of Insubordination in the
Algerian War" is, though, an anti-war document that encourages the
French to refuse participation in "this criminal, absurd struggle"
prosecuted by its military. This echoes the surrealists' earlier call
"for an end to the disastrous war."
Being anti-war is not synonymous with pacifism. It can mean opposing
the wars prosecuted by states and their professional militaries,
without saying an oppressed people should do nothing to revolt against
their oppressors. Consider United Nations doctrine which, for
instance, condemns aggression while recognizing the right a people to
take up arms against an occupational force.
The poster Paul -- not to be confused with Paul or Paul -- appeared to
be implying the recent messages about the current American imperialist
war were out of order. In fact, such anti-war sentiments extend a
continuity that reaches back to the very origins of the surrealist
movement, which was incubated in disgust for the Great War. (How
severe is historical amnesia? The owner of one of those American
restaurants which is removing "French" fries from its menu compared
his move favourably with similar anti-German actions of WWI.) The
Algerian Declaration was one expression of this. As is Breton's: "In
response to the official pacifism which converts the guardian angels
of peace into ministers of war, in response to the oldest imperialist
formula: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war ‘ -- in response,
moreover, to the hypocritical slogan ‘War on war' -- we say: *If you
want peace, prepare for civil war!*"
The recent "War Metamorphosis" is also noticeably lacking in pacifism.
-- Parry
Kwigd144
Morpheal
> Bill is evil
Bill the Cat ?
I agree. He is. Though that is what makes him so likeable.
R.
Morpheal
>
> Robert, Only through AI EVOLUTION and I think I can pull it off.
They are psychopathic. They have no real emotions.
So, there are a few small problems. Need a killing machine ?
Those are useful too, in some situations.
R.
Morpheal
> Breton on War:
>
> "…we profoundly hope that revolutions, wars, colonial insurrections,
> will annihilate this Western civilization."
He was a funny man. Obviously tongue in cheek, because he, of course,
knew that that was what created western civilization.... rebels.
> The Algerian War:
> "the cause of the Algerian people, which has contributed in decisive
> fashion to the overthrow of the colonial system, is the cause of all
> free men."
Unfortunately he did not know of the consequences of ending colonialism.
It is worse, not better. In Africa and Asia, in a post colonial world,
there is more oppression, violence and suffering than there would have
been under a benevolent and nurturing colonial power. Unfortunately also
Britain, France, etc. had trepidations based upon the misfortures
suffered by our ancestors in ancient Rome. The empire streteched too far
in its attempts at civilizing and invited every form of barbaric attack
from its jealous neighbours.
> The (French) Vietnam War:
> "Freedom is a Vietnamese word"
His sense of humour again. Obviously it is not in the Vietnamese
language. Liberte is French, if that is what he referred to. Freedom is
English. Left wing military dictatorship, following along with Maoist
principles, is not in fact freedom, as anyone who is knowedgable, as
Breton was, knows.
The trouble with Breton is he was so intellectual, obtuse, and often
obscure, in what was always a scathing wit (even in the Manifesto, which
is all scathing wit), that he always requires some elucidation or is the
most misread and misunderstood of all the surrealists.
He was in fact, in his own way, as looney and irreverent as Dali.
Except Dali appealed, in his zaniness and directness, to a larger
popularity. Dali was pop, whereas Breton was too obscure and abstract.
R.
Paul Heslop
>
> Paul Heslop wrote:
>
> > Bill is evil
>
> Bill the Cat ?
>
Morpheal
> How do you bill a cat?
They are wealthier, better cared for, in many instances, than many of
the humans. So it should be possible.
R.
Paul Heslop
purrfect response
g e e k . t r a g e d y
<paul....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>with time the child draws
>
i used to do that too!
Paul Heslop
gee, so did I! ( I lost the ability to draw freehand with a pencil when
the OCD really kicked in, along with a few other neat tricks like
reading and writing!)
Morpheal
> purrfect response
I've trained a black panther to believe that you are a mouse.
Have a nice day.
R.
Paul Heslop
Is that what that shadow is that keeps falling across my windows on a
night time?
Morpheal
>
> Morpheal wrote:
> >
> > Paul Heslop wrote:
> >
> > > purrfect response
> >
> > I've trained a black panther to believe that you are a mouse.
> > Have a nice day.
> >
> > R.
>
> Is that what that shadow is that keeps falling across my windows on a
> night time?
No. That one is your local FBI agent.
R.
Paul Heslop
silly, we have CID, not FBI
g e e k . t r a g e d y
<paul....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>Morpheal wrote:
>>
>> Paul Heslop wrote:
>>
>> > purrfect response
>>
>> I've trained a black panther to believe that you are a mouse.
>> Have a nice day.
>>
>> R.
>
>Is that what that shadow is that keeps falling across my windows on a
>night time?
>
my dear sir, YOU'RE OBLONG!
g e e k . t r a g e d y
<paul....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>Morpheal wrote:
>>
>> Paul Heslop wrote:
>> >
>> > Morpheal wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Paul Heslop wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > purrfect response
>> > >
>> > > I've trained a black panther to believe that you are a mouse.
>> > > Have a nice day.
>> > >
>> > > R.
>> >
>> > Is that what that shadow is that keeps falling across my windows on a
>> > night time?
>>
>> No. That one is your local FBI agent.
>>
>> R.
>
>silly, we have CID, not FBI
>
i have a cat. he's old.
g e e k . t r a g e d y
wrote:
>Paul Heslop wrote:
>
>> purrfect response
>
>I've trained a black panther to believe that you are a mouse.
>
and make mine a double!
Robert Morpheal
> >
> > Paul <rrs...@transbay.net> wrote in message news:<3E556EAD...@transbay.net>...
> > > DOWN with all surrealist collectivity!!.
> > > The only thing collective is the universal
> > > architypes that exist in EVERYONE.
> > > I really hope this is not a peace and
> > > love group, because i know surrealism has
> > > never been about LOVE.
> > > Thank you for listening............
> >
> > Pro-love, anti-war principles are seminal in surrealism. Not "love"
> > and "peace" in the debasing christian sense, of course. Collectivity
> > is also a basic. The term "universal archetypes" means nothing to me.
> > You might refer to the unfinished FAQ that been posted here several
> > times.
Ah, but if you want to invoke the Xtian myth then America, as was
France,
are both built upon Satanism. The rebels in Heaven rise up against the
legitimate government, divine right of kingship, and try to overthrow
god, the king, from his throne. Now, in America, the king was
overthrown, and the American revolution succeeded. ;-> How terribly
Satanic.
> Breton on War:
>
> "?we profoundly hope that revolutions, wars, colonial insurrections,
> will annihilate this Western civilization."
>
> The Algerian War:
> "the cause of the Algerian people, which has contributed in decisive
> fashion to the overthrow of the colonial system, is the cause of all
> free men."
>
> The (French) Vietnam War:
> "Freedom is a Vietnamese word"
And I supposse you interpret that as saying that we ought all to
protest
the French Revolution and the American Revolution ? Not to mention
the Russian Revolution as such. Western civilization should have
remained monarchic in every instance, but it was destroyed by
revolution.
You simply don't understand Breton's wit.
You're utterly out to lunch. Call in the Gumby brain surgeon...
R.
Paul Heslop
>
I have a me, he's no spring chicken either...
oh yeah, and a few kids, grandkids, wife etc.
Paul Heslop
>
My ob is not long!