As bicycling children go by
john adams
Cameraman records the slaughter of bicycling children
THE tank pulls into view, its barrel pointing straight down Jasmine Street towards the children cycling back
from the shops after buying a chocolate bar.
On a nearby rooftop an amateur cameraman stops panning across the Jenin skyline and films the group of stick
figures moving quickly away from the Israeli war machine. Suddenly a plume of orange erupts from the barrel
and the cameraman dives for cover as shrapnel slams into the second-storey wall just below him.
A hundred yards away teenagers sheltering behind walls look at the shell bouncing down the street, slamming
first into the tarmac then into a low wall, where it explodes, blowing 11-year-old Tariq Abu Aziz off his
bicycle and ripping apart his two brothers.
This is the first filmed record of the incident in which, Palestinians say, Israeli forces opened fire on
civilians who ventured out into a quiet middle-class neighbourhood of Jenin on June 21, mistakenly believing
that the curfew had been lifted.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Israeli Defence Minister, has apologised and the Israeli Army has announced an
inquiry, conceding that initial inquiries suggested that its forces "erred" by firing two tank shells to
disperse curfew-breaking Palestinians while its troops searched for a bomb factory near by.
Limping past the bloodspattered wall where his brothers Jamil, 13, and Ahmed, six, were killed, Tariq winces
in pain after three operations to repair his punctured stomach, kidneys and spleen.
"We heard the earlier gunfire and we were running away. Some hid behind buildings and I was cycling in front,
with Ahmed in the middle and Jamil at the back," he said, pointing to the spot in the dusty road. The first
sign of trouble, he said, was a white car that turned into the street moments earlier, its horn blaring.
"Suddenly there was an explosion and a cloud of black smoke. I was knocked off my bike. I was dizzy, but I got
up and walked towards my house. I knew my brothers were injured, but I didn't know how badly."
Jamil, witnesses said, lay dying in the street calling: "Dad, Dad." Ahmed was killed instantly, both his legs,
an arm and his intestines strewn across Jasmine Street. It was only two weeks later, just before his discharge
from hospital, that Tariq found out that his brothers were dead, although he had long suspected, after
listening to indiscreet nurses pointing to "the brother of the two martyrs". In the corner of the family
courtyard lie three bicycles, Jamil's orange mountain bike barely scratched, Tariq's red machine with its
saddle punctured and Ahmed's tiny purple minibike, its handlebar snapped off. He was buried with his chocolate
bar in his hand.
The boys' father, Yousef, and mother, Hamda, can scarcely bear to watch the video, now worn out with constant
playing for relatives.
"This is a catastrophe," says Yousef, who adds that the Israeli authorities have not contacted him once. "Two
of my children killed and a third on the verge of dying. Why?"
From Stephen Farrell in Jenin
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-350200,00.html
also from the times:
Turkish government near collapse
Turkey's coalition government is on the verge of collapse after three ministers resigned a day after a key
leader called for early elections. Deputy premier Husamettin Ozkan, formerly one of ailing Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit's closest aides, is among those who have resigned. Two other ministers and 14 other MPs, all
from Ecevit's Democratic Left Party, immediately announced their resignations from the government and the
party.
-john
david anthony magitis
Dale Houstman
"david anthony magitis" <ima...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:agdb08$8af$1...@helle.btinternet.com...
> How is that Surreal! Please let me know!
>
to answer that we would first like to know what you think "surreal" is?
dmh
Brandon Freels
> How is that Surreal! Please let me know!
Its kinda old, but maybe this FAQ will help.
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
barrett john erickson
"david anthony magitis" <ima...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:agdb08$8af$1...@helle.btinternet.com...
how is your artwork "surreal"?
["surreal" isn't an attribute to be discovered or not discovered in a text,
painting, sculpture or any other object.]
-- barrett
BLUE FEATHERS se2 (The New World Odor) is now available
(BF#4 will be available in July02)
http://www.MagneticFields.org/blue/
bar...@MagneticFields.org
http://www.MagneticFields.org/
surrealists in minnesota
Sur...@MagneticFields.org
==============================================
"Everything tends to make us believe that there exists a
certain point of the mind at which life and death, the real and
the imagined, past and future, the communicable and the
incommunicable, high and low, cease to be perceived as
contradictions."
...André Breton
==============================================
Nik Maack
barrett john erickson wrote:
>
> "david anthony magitis" <ima...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:agdb08$8af$1...@helle.btinternet.com...
> > How is that Surreal! Please let me know!
>
> how is your artwork "surreal"?
>
> ["surreal" isn't an attribute to be discovered or not discovered in a text,
> painting, sculpture or any other object.]
It's surreal because his pen was dipped in butter, THEN ink.
david anthony magitis
"Dale Houstman" <dm...@citilink.com> wrote in message
news:uikdhho...@corp.supernews.com...
killed for no good reason isn't Otherwise I would spend the rest of my life
writing about my mishaps such as the time I fell and poked my left eye out
(still got one) or the time I accidentally removed the tips of two fingers
on my left hand ( the one used to paint and write) Yer in all life is infact
it's self surreal. But a straight forward story from a newspaper ain't (I
had fish and chips with that one).
Dale Houstman
This doesn't constitute an answer.
dmh
Brandon Freels
"david anthony magitis" <ima...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:aggc7n$3jv$1...@knossos.btinternet.com...
Dale Houstman
"Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message
news:aggiku$kdv$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> He doesn't get it?
>
I am tickled though by his brilliant observation (though crudely framed)
that "all life is surreal" but a newspaper story isn't. Maybe there is such
a thing as holding too many contradictions equally true?
dmh
Nik Maack
Dale Houstman wrote:
>
> "Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message
> news:aggiku$kdv$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> > He doesn't get it?
> >
>
> I am tickled though by his brilliant observation (though crudely framed)
> that "all life is surreal" but a newspaper story isn't. Maybe there is such
> a thing as holding too many contradictions equally true?
Are you guys ever going to get tired of the "we know what surrealism is
and you don't" game?
Surrealism is what happens when your mother catches you masturbating and
joins in. Surrealism is a Wednesday that's twenty-five hours long.
Surrealism is lipstick on dead lips. Surrealism is pumpkin pie in outer
space. Surrealism is your left knee, on fire, with no pain.
Surrealism is not sitting around talking about surrealism.
Dale Houstman
"Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3D2BF7F3...@sympatico.ca...
>
>
> Dale Houstman wrote:
> >
> > "Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message
> > news:aggiku$kdv$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> > > He doesn't get it?
> > >
> >
> > I am tickled though by his brilliant observation (though crudely framed)
> > that "all life is surreal" but a newspaper story isn't. Maybe there is
such
> > a thing as holding too many contradictions equally true?
>
> Are you guys ever going to get tired of the "we know what surrealism is
> and you don't" game?
No. Hope that answers your question?
>
dmh
barrett john erickson
david anthony magitis
(There must be a link to this particular story on the web. Then comment,
just an idea!)
(2) Why question a fellow artist knowledge of what's surreal!
(3) All that the above in the little "I know I know" gang only know or think
they know so much from studying from books and treat it like a religion, see
(1) capital letters.
(4) Obliviously all above in named gang are educated (Blindly). Do not
forget there others he are too.
(5) I,m in several "Surreal" groups and thankfully happy to say never met
one pompous stuck up surrealist.
(6) The proof is your sad next question! which groups? lardy dar! So
predictable.
Please prove me wrong!
End of point.
john adams
"david anthony magitis" <ima...@btinternet.com> wrote in message news:aghvti$qbd$1...@helle.btinternet.com...
>
> "Dale Houstman" <dm...@citilink.com> wrote in message
> news:uiod84r...@corp.supernews.com...
> >
> > "Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> > news:3D2BF7F3...@sympatico.ca...
> > >
> > >
> > > Dale Houstman wrote:
> > > >
> > > > "Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:aggiku$kdv$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> > > > > He doesn't get it?
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > I am tickled though by his brilliant observation (though crudely
> framed)
> > > > that "all life is surreal" but a newspaper story isn't. Maybe there is
> > such
> > > > a thing as holding too many contradictions equally true?
> > >
> > > Are you guys ever going to get tired of the "we know what surrealism is
> > > and you don't" game?
> >
> > No. Hope that answers your question?
> > >
> > dmh
> >
> > (1) What SADO sits at a computer type a copy of a news paper article.
> (There must be a link to this particular story on the web. Then comment,
> just an idea!)
There was a link to the story, goofball.
> (2) Why question a fellow artist knowledge of what's surreal!
> (3) All that the above in the little "I know I know" gang only know or think
> they know so much from studying from books and treat it like a religion, see
> (1) capital letters.
> (4) Obliviously all above in named gang are educated (Blindly). Do not
> forget there others he are too.
> (5) I,m in several "Surreal" groups and thankfully happy to say never met
> one pompous stuck up surrealist.
So how many HR Giger groups are you in?
> (6) The proof is your sad next question! which groups? lardy dar! So
> predictable.
> Please prove me wrong!
> End of point.
(End of not making sense).
-john
Brandon Freels
David (Imagist), to understand the importance of the events John posted you
must first understand the political element of the surrealist revolution. Do
you? If not read the section of the FAQ devoted to the subject.
If people here come across as snotty in response to your objection its
because, to us, the importance of the event is obvious. This newsgroup is
not NowSurreal and does not cater to "artists" but seems to be a meeting
ground for thinkers, creators, subversives, anarcho-surrealists, etc, and at
times the occasional Nik-dullard or hysterical nun. The interests of the
individuals here almost always goes beyond "painting".
"david anthony magitis" wrote
> (5) I,m in several "Surreal" groups and thankfully happy to say never met
> one pompous stuck up surrealist.
Are you sure those groups are "surreal"? Maybe they're just "weird" or
"metaphysical" or "fantastic"? And your right, you've never met a pompous
stuck up surrealist, because Trev isn't a surrealist. He's a pompous stuck
up Giger-toad.
Parry
> "Dale Houstman" <dm...@citilink.com> wrote in message
> news:uiod84r...@corp.supernews.com...
> >
> > "Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> > news:3D2BF7F3...@sympatico.ca...
> > >
> > >
> > > Dale Houstman wrote:
> > > >
> > > > "Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:aggiku$kdv$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> > > > > He doesn't get it?
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > I am tickled though by his brilliant observation (though crudely
> framed)
> > > > that "all life is surreal" but a newspaper story isn't. Maybe there is
> > such
> > > > a thing as holding too many contradictions equally true?
> > >
> > > Are you guys ever going to get tired of the "we know what surrealism is
> > > and you don't" game?
> >
> > No. Hope that answers your question?
> > >
> > dmh
> >
> > (1) What SADO sits at a computer type a copy of a news paper article.
> (There must be a link to this particular story on the web. Then comment,
> just an idea!)
Not much you can do about someone attaching a news story without
comment. To demonstrate, I'll attach one myself at the end of this
message and not comment on it (except to say I was going to attach a
Fisk article about the White House's latest Mid-East peace scam but
couldn't find it, so I'm relaying a piece about the G8 instead).
> (2) Why question a fellow artist knowledge of what's surreal!
> (3) All that the above in the little "I know I know" gang only know or think
> they know so much from studying from books and treat it like a religion, see
> (1) capital letters.
Yes, I too hate people who use books to learn things. If one wants to
know about a subject, why study it when blowing bubbles works just as
well?
> (4) Obliviously all above in named gang are educated (Blindly). Do not
> forget there others he are too.
> (5) I,m in several "Surreal" groups and thankfully happy to say never met
> one pompous stuck up surrealist.
> (6) The proof is your sad next question! which groups? lardy dar! So
> predictable.
> Please prove me wrong!
Wouldn't give you the satisfaction. Which "several 全urreal' groups"
do you mean?
-- Parry
> End of point.
Observer (London) Sunday June 30, 2002
THE BLAME-THE-VICTIM SUMMIT
Barry Coates
<>Barry Coates is Director of the World Development Movement
(www.wdm.org.uk) You can write to him at w...@wdm.org.uk.
Western leaders promised so much to Africa and delivered so little.
Yet the greatest scandal of last week's G8 summit is not the failure
to deliver more resources but the way the world trade rules are rigged
against the poorest, argues the Director of the World Development
Movement.
--------------------------------------
From their hideaway in the Canadian Rockies, far from the intrusion of
demonstrators, the scrutiny of their Parliaments and the voices of the
world's poor, the G8 delivered a stunning blow to the prospects for
Africa's recovery. Their ironically named "Action Plan for Africa" was
a humiliating slap in the face to the four African leaders who were
summoned to the feast. More importantly, it was a cynical betrayal of
the 300 million people who are living on less than $1 per day (nearly
half of Africa's people), 28 million who are HIV positive and the one
third of Africa's children who are malnourished.
Yet the real scandal is not that they did not deliver new resources to
help Africa - the world has come to expect little from the G8 - but
that they did nothing to stop the ways in which the G8 exploits Africa
and inhibits its development.
The crucial test for the G8 was always going to be the rules on
international trade. African governments and NGOs called for the G8 to
change the unfair rules that are impoverishing Africa's farmers and
inhibiting the development of new industries. But the G8 stuck to
their line they are pursuing in the World Trade Organisation
negotiations - they will not reform their bloated agricultural
subsidies or reduce their trade barriers until African countries give
new advantages to multinational companies, particularly in basic
service sectors.
The price is high. Rather than submitting services to the rules of
world trade, to "risk the lives of African people and their access to
basic essentials of life", Ugandan trade negotiator, Professor Yash
Tandon calls for people-centred policies: "African governments must
pledge to provide the basic services to the people - drinking water,
basic food, essential housing and transport, and access to energy,
etc. - as necessary elements of their basic human rights".
Trade is not a new issue - each G8 summit in the past three years has
promised to reform trade. Tony Blair acknowledged that trade rules are
stacked in favour of the rich G8 nations against the poor when he
said: "It really is hypocrisy for us, the wealthy countries, to talk
of our concern to alleviate poverty of the developing world, while we
block their access to our markets." Exactly.
But when it came to doing anything about it, he and the other G8
leaders abjectly failed. It really is hypocrisy for the G8 to talk of
aiding Africa when are exploiting Africa's people through unfair trade
rules.
The second test was set by the Organisation for African Unity in 1999
when they gave the task of preparing a plan for Africa's development
to the presidents of Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, as a means to
renegotiate the terms of the debt deadlock. Three years later, the
resulting plan, the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD),
was presented to the G8 summit in Kananaskis.
The vicious cycle of debt and poverty has been well-documented. A week
before the G8 Summit, a UN report described how further inaction will
consign into absolute poverty 100 million more people in the world's
poorest countries, most of them in Africa. Other reports have shown
that the Millennium Development Goals for poverty reduction will be
substantially missed if there is no further debt cancellation. Even
the World Bank and IMF reported in March that the much vaunted Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is failing.
The G8 applied a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. They undertook to
provide up to $1 billion, as a one-off top-up to the HIPC initiative.
Yet Africa pays $15 billion each year to the rich nations in debt
payments. Half of the African nations spend more on their foreign
debts than on health care. The rich world is still draining
desperately needed resources from Africa.
The $1 billion is less than the G8 have spent on staging their last
five meetings; and contrasts starkly with the $40 billion allocated by
the US for the "war on terror" or the $350 billion spent annually by
the rich nations on farm subsidies.
The final insult was to spin the outcome as if the G8 had agreed more
aid for Africa. They re-announced a promise made last March (in
Monterrey, Mexico) for more aid, but then could not even agree to
allocate half of it to Africa.
As predicted by a conference of African bishops earlier this year, the
G8 are "supporting the cost free aspects of NEPAD while avoiding
renewed commitment to provide additional resources for Africa's
development".
The G8 effectively ignored NEPAD as proposed by the African leaders,
and responded with their own Action Plan. Instead of concentrating on
their own responsibilities, the G8 lectured African nations on what
they should do, perpetuating the myth that African are themselves
fully to blame for their poverty.
Included in the statement are a call for African nations to regulate
illicit arms sales, ignoring the fact that the G8 supply 80% of the
arms to developing world; a call for the "use of tried and tested new
technology, including biotechnology"; and, of course, the usual calls
for Africa to open its markets and restructure their economies for the
benefit of foreign multinationals.
The G8 has done little except lecture Africa while continuing to rig
the global rules against them. After all of the grand talk of Africa's
Marshall Plan and a new era for development, so much rhetoric has led
to so little delivery.
---------------------------------
david anthony magitis
surrealist use the word weird) I admit my works are more the "fantastic"
however I come here to learn. To the reply of pompous stuck up comments,
this was not to any objections to my first comment but to those out there
who think they know it all and dismiss others (free thinkers?) My first
question was a valid one to which you were the only one to offer a sensible
answer to that I thank you! As for Giger toads that might be the case often
people refer to my works as gigerish which does offend (Never owned a Giger
book never will do). My works often takes the piss and people would realise
this if they took a closer look. same with digital art (which I personally
hate) Nothing I produce is copied just thought observation. What makes a
surrealist I'll leave to the professionals I create to rebel, to question
and hopefully to please. Thank you Brandon.
Nik Maack
david anthony magitis wrote:
> Brandon, I agree with what you say (Never thought I'd hear/see a
> surrealist use the word weird) I admit my works are more the "fantastic"
> however I come here to learn.
Some of the surrealists here use insults like "weird" and "crazy" and
"nonsense" on a regular basis -- something I never expected a surrealist
to say.
Please stick around and fill this newsgroup with creativity. That's a
part of surrealism that this newsgroup often forgets to cover.
john adams
"Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:3D2DF21C...@sympatico.ca...
I don't recall much use of those terms, to be hoenst, except for possibly "nonsense",
in describing another's argumentative point (see also: preposterous, incongruous,
comical, hilarious, absurd...). They're all fairly flexible terms whose singular usage does not
automatically indicate an attitude opposed to the thing itself: "the absurd", "the comical",
"the weird", etc. Isn't that obvious? It seems slightly exaggerative to say people get
called crazy and weird in here on a regular basis.
-john
Nik Maack
john adams wrote:
> I don't recall much use of those terms, to be hoenst, except for possibly "nonsense",
> in describing another's argumentative point (see also: preposterous, incongruous,
> usage does not automatically indicate an attitude opposed to the thing itself:
> "the absurd", "the comical", "the weird", etc. Isn't that obvious?
Nothing is obvious. At least, nothing worthwhile is obvious. Isn't
that obvious? Then it must be nothing. Ipso facto ad absurdium et la
plutonium jaune de ma taunt. And, I'd like to humbly suggest, all
arguments are nonsense, in that no one ever seems swayed by argument.
People are swayed by breezes, and music. Arguments sway nothing, except
maybe newspaper editorials.
The last time I read a newspaper editorial, I was convinced of only one
thing -- not to read newspaper editorials. They're like letters home
from your boring uncle who went off to France, and keeps complaining
about how all the people there speak French.
> It seems
> slightly exaggerative to say people get called crazy and weird in here on a regular
> basis.
If you can't see how often people in this newsgroup use these kinds of
insults, you must be crazy, you fucking weirdo. And if you are a crazy
fucking weirdo, then I call you brother, and punch you in the mouth with
a fist of love.
http://www.nikart.com/newer/56.html
Yes. Yes, I do.
Brandon Freels
john adams
"Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message news:agl8nr$452$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> Ya'll are nuts!
>
You're not helping my argument.
-j
john adams
"Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:3D2E1B1C...@sympatico.ca...
>
>
> john adams wrote:
> > I don't recall much use of those terms, to be hoenst, except for possibly "nonsense",
> > in describing another's argumentative point (see also: preposterous, incongruous,
> > usage does not automatically indicate an attitude opposed to the thing itself:
> > "the absurd", "the comical", "the weird", etc. Isn't that obvious?
>
> Nothing is obvious. At least, nothing worthwhile is obvious. Isn't
> that obvious? Then it must be nothing. Ipso facto ad absurdium et la
> plutonium jaune de ma taunt. And, I'd like to humbly suggest, all
> arguments are nonsense, in that no one ever seems swayed by argument.
I know, I know everything is nothing, I've heard that one before somewhere.
> People are swayed by breezes, and music. Arguments sway nothing, except
> maybe newspaper editorials.
They are swayed by these things and more. More precisely, Nik is not
persuaded by intellectual discussion, as you have admitted before.
That's all fine and dandy - I won't hold it against you. But you seem to hold
a certain disdain for others who do engage in it now and again
(damn them bastards who likes to think and write).
> The last time I read a newspaper editorial, I was convinced of only one
> thing -- not to read newspaper editorials. They're like letters home
> from your boring uncle who went off to France, and keeps complaining
> about how all the people there speak French.
Well some people are occasionally swayed by what they read. Paying
attention to the world at large can sometimes have its positive rewards
as well. Being open to new ideas, thoughts, learning...free thinking in general,
that sort of thing.
> > It seems
> > slightly exaggerative to say people get called crazy and weird in here on a regular
> > basis.
>
> If you can't see how often people in this newsgroup use these kinds of
> insults, you must be crazy, you fucking weirdo. And if you are a crazy
> fucking weirdo, then I call you brother, and punch you in the mouth with
> a fist of love.
And I extend to you a "purple chocolate covered flower" and a bib that
reads "still crazy after all these beers" written in crazy neon.
-john
Brandon Freels
uh... I thought I was...
"john adams" <johnqa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:x6qX8.323882$R61.2...@rwcrnsc52.ops.asp.att.net...
Nik Maack
john adams wrote:
> I know, I know everything is nothing, I've heard that one before somewhere.
Must have been your extremely thrifty parents around Christmas time.
"I'd give you the world, kid, and I believe I have. The world's inside
your head, and my womb and your daddy's sperm made that. So,
technically, we gave you the world. Now shut up and eat your
non-existent porridge."
> More precisely, Nik is not
> persuaded by intellectual discussion, as you have admitted before.
I can be swayed by intellectual discussion -- I just find that the world
in general (not necessarily you) relies on "intellect" like a blind man
relies on his cane. Is it any surprise I (as a good surrealist) want to
rip the cane from that man's fingers and smash it over his head? He can
see. He's faking this blindness. His rationality is a cover story.
This blind man is a fucking liar -- help me push him into the gutter.
As I understand surrealism, a major component of it is about encouraging
people to acknowledge senses other than their "rational" ones. Everyone
is painfully aware of their reason. Because they aren't so aware of
their unreason, their intuition, their illogic, they're boring
argument-making machines. That and they're easy suckers for a good
advertising campaign.
"It didn't appeal to reason, so it didn't work on me. And yet I'm
drowning in the toothpaste they're selling. How did that happen?"
In lieu of argument, I like a good bit of poetic imagery. Something
that appeals to intuition as opposed to reason. It's far more difficult
to determine if it ever makes its mark, an intuitive argument.
> That's all fine and dandy - I won't hold it against you. But you seem to hold
> a certain disdain for others who do engage in it now and again
> (damn them bastards who likes to think and write).
Damn the bastard who thinks in straight lines, from A to B to C. I can
often see a straight line, and decide we're all smart enough to assume
B. Therefore, I go from A to C. This often causes the more pedantic
assfuckers on earth (again, not necessarily you) to say:
"You left out B! Where's B? What the hell shit are you trying to pull?"
And if I'm in an "explaining" state of mind, I try to describe what I
did. But usually it's just too much of a bother.
> Well some people are occasionally swayed by what they read. Paying
> attention to the world at large can sometimes have its positive rewards
> as well.
There's a reason I adore reading autobiographical material. I don't
trust people who say, "This is the world." I trust people who say,
"This is how I saw the world."
> And I extend to you a "purple chocolate covered flower" and a bib that
> reads "still crazy after all these beers" written in crazy neon.
I'll eat it after breakfast, and re-electrocute the scrambled eggs
inside my skull.
john adams
"Brandon Freels" <brandon...@aaahawk.com> wrote in message news:aglrls$pm8$1...@news.chatlink.com...
> I thought I was being funny...
>
> uh... I thought I was...
You were, you were, you were!
I was just being jocular.
-johjnnh
john adams
"Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:3D2E9FBF...@sympatico.ca...
>
>
> john adams wrote:
> > I know, I know everything is nothing, I've heard that one before somewhere.
>
> Must have been your extremely thrifty parents around Christmas time.
>
> "I'd give you the world, kid, and I believe I have. The world's inside
> your head, and my womb and your daddy's sperm made that. So,
> technically, we gave you the world. Now shut up and eat your
> non-existent porridge."
You must have been spying in around christmas time. Our porridge
bowls were always empty and our forks (made out of thick dried twigs)
were always busy scouring up window sills for any remaining soot
or dead flies. My brother was often chided for greedily eating his own
cheeks and then was punished by not being allowed to watch our parents
eat their juicy steaks at supper.
> > More precisely, Nik is not
> > persuaded by intellectual discussion, as you have admitted before.
>
> I can be swayed by intellectual discussion -- I just find that the world
> in general (not necessarily you) relies on "intellect" like a blind man
> relies on his cane. Is it any surprise I (as a good surrealist) want to
> rip the cane from that man's fingers and smash it over his head? He can
> see. He's faking this blindness. His rationality is a cover story.
> This blind man is a fucking liar -- help me push him into the gutter.
>
> As I understand surrealism, a major component of it is about encouraging
> people to acknowledge senses other than their "rational" ones. Everyone
> is painfully aware of their reason. Because they aren't so aware of
> their unreason, their intuition, their illogic, they're boring
> argument-making machines. That and they're easy suckers for a good
> advertising campaign.
>
> "It didn't appeal to reason, so it didn't work on me. And yet I'm
> drowning in the toothpaste they're selling. How did that happen?"
>
> In lieu of argument, I like a good bit of poetic imagery. Something
> that appeals to intuition as opposed to reason. It's far more difficult
> to determine if it ever makes its mark, an intuitive argument.
I like them both. I read certain newsgroups for the sharing of ideas,
discussion, debate. There is no reason humor or poetic imagery
can not exist in the mix at times as well. Everyone comes to this
scene for slightly different reasons, I suppose. But we are all joined
by some common themes tied inherently into the subject of the
particular group. In surrealism, these might include (because this
is a dicussion group) discussion from the trivial to the various currents of
artistic medium (film, art, poetry, dance, bowling, etc.), various positions
of philosophical thought or praxis (because we are not afraid of executing
a thought provoking dialogue, or just the same napping in between the
headers).
I agree, we are not soley reason-based, exacting machines. The irrational
is all around us. But even the irrational has some rationale. We must
admit this to ourselves , especially in a newsgroup setting where
communicating (often comparing and contrasting, like now) ideas is the
usual order of the day.
Also where do we draw the line between emotional and intellectual
experience? I see them less and less through the divisional lines of
A or B, or one without the other, and seek to enhance both.
> > That's all fine and dandy - I won't hold it against you. But you seem to hold
> > a certain disdain for others who do engage in it now and again
> > (damn them bastards who likes to think and write).
>
> Damn the bastard who thinks in straight lines, from A to B to C. I can
> often see a straight line, and decide we're all smart enough to assume
> B. Therefore, I go from A to C.
As they say, the shortest distance is a straight line from one point
to the other. It isn't always the most enjoyable. We are missing out
on some of the glory that may be B in going to C, but seeing how A
is so far away we invent an entirely new point, D, in order to rest
a bit or go have icees.
>This often causes the more pedantic
> assfuckers on earth (again, not necessarily you) to say:
>
> "You left out B! Where's B? What the hell shit are you trying to pull?"
>
> And if I'm in an "explaining" state of mind, I try to describe what I
> did. But usually it's just too much of a bother.
>
> > Well some people are occasionally swayed by what they read. Paying
> > attention to the world at large can sometimes have its positive rewards
> > as well.
>
> There's a reason I adore reading autobiographical material. I don't
> trust people who say, "This is the world." I trust people who say,
> "This is how I saw the world."
So, you only read autobiographies and haiku...?
> > And I extend to you a "purple chocolate covered flower" and a bib that
> > reads "still crazy after all these beers" written in crazy neon.
>
> I'll eat it after breakfast, and re-electrocute the scrambled eggs
> inside my skull.
Are we attempting to invoke the electro-convulsive or thoughts on the
eggistential?
-john
Nik Maack
john adams wrote:
> I agree, we are not soley reason-based, exacting machines. The irrational
> is all around us. But even the irrational has some rationale. We must
> admit this to ourselves , especially in a newsgroup setting where
> communicating (often comparing and contrasting, like now) ideas is the
> usual order of the day.
Yes, there is a logic to the irrational. That, I think, is the concept
that started surrealism rolling. Dada was about pure noise.
Surrealists saw that so-called pure noise has meaning in it. When we
pretend to be random, we aren't random at all. It's the patterns in the
random that speak truth.
This is why Freud believed in free association. Speak without
controlling your mouth. Say whatever pops in to your head. When we do
that, we often say (and discover) far more than we expect.
The random isn't random. The illogical is (strangely) logical. There's
no such thing as meaninglessness. My feeling is that the illogical
portions of our minds are more logical, more meaningful, more powerful,
than our so-called logical, rational minds. The "sane" part acts as a
cover for the "insane" part. The "insane" part is sane, but in a way we
don't necessarily appreciate.
> So, you only read autobiographies and haiku...?
Not exactly. I prefer personal accounts of reality, so any writing that
is nonfiction first person is particularly dear to me. I just finished
reading Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie". It's a first person account
of Steinbeck taking a trip across America. Very witty and dry, with the
occasional gut-wrenching moments of savagery. I loved it.
Also recently finished "Venus in Furs", by Sacher-Masoch, the man whose
very name created the term "masochism". It was quite a funny book.
Sacher-Masoch practically invents all the tropes of the modern masochist
world. Far more readable than Sade, Sacher-Masoch is strangely creepy
while being drole. I'm not quite sure if he's funny on purpose, mind you.
I'm slogging my way through "Psychopathia Sexualis" -- a book from the
1890s detailing all the perversions known by Kraft-Ebbing, a German
doctor. He blames almost all mental illness on jerking off. He tells
parents not to spank their kids, as the kids might get off on it, and
it'll lead to a life of perversion. His case studies are interesting,
and his theories are quite bizarre. Makes me wonder how many of our
modern theories will be seen as ridiculous 100 years from now.
Also working on "No More Secondhand Art", by Peter London, a book on art
therapy and creative energy. The author dares to suggest that everyone
should have a personal experience of the art world, creating their own
art, using their art to explore their own world. A little flaky in
style, still, a lot of what London says hits me pretty hard, much to my surprise.
Books on my reading list include "Lustmord", a collection of writing and
art by murderers. Son of Sam, Zodiac, and other killers' writing is
showcased. Sadly, the book has a painfully tiny font.
"Silent Screams and Hidden Cries", an analysis of drawings by children
from violent homes -- another art-therapy-related book. That's a
subject I'm currently exploring. (I have another book on the topic
being mailed to me -- "Clinical Art Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide".)
And because I'm also interested in sexual deviance -- as if the above
didn't tell you that already -- I picked up "The Misfits: A Study of
Sexual Outsiders" by Colin Wilson. Have yet to crack the cover on that
one. From what little I know about it, it's biographical data on
perverts throughout history.
What kind of stuff are you reading or have you read recently?
Someone at work told me the other day that he hasn't read a book in over
two years. The very idea makes my stomach lurch.
Brandon Freels
> What kind of stuff are you reading or have you read recently?
I'm reading Jon Savage's England's Dreaming. I really like it. Its sort of a
bio of the Sex Pistols, British Punk, and Malcolm all in one. I'm only 228
pages into it, though. Savage touches on the SI slightly, but mis-represents
them also (I feel). There's a good short history (under 10 pages?) of the SI
in England hidden in here.
> Someone at work told me the other day that he hasn't read a book in over
> two years. The very idea makes my stomach lurch.
He must be dull.
elag
> If you can't see how often people in this newsgroup use these kinds of
> insults, you must be crazy, you fucking weirdo. And if you are a crazy
> fucking weirdo, then I call you brother, and punch you in the mouth with
> a fist of love.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
You Are Crazy
You’re crazy.
Nobody else does that.
Normal people don’t do that.
I don’t do that.
They don’t do that.
We don’t do that.
Why do you want to do that?
Don’t do that!
You’re crazy!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
elag
john adams wrote:
>
> "Nik Maack" <nikm...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message .
>
> > People are swayed by breezes, and music. Arguments sway nothing, except
> > maybe newspaper editorials.
>
> They are swayed by these things and more. More precisely, Nik is not
> persuaded by intellectual discussion, as you have admitted before.
> That's all fine and dandy - I won't hold it against you. But you seem to hold
> a certain disdain for others who do engage in it now and again
> (damn them bastards who likes to think and write).
>
> > The last time I read a newspaper editorial, I was convinced of only one
> > thing -- not to read newspaper editorials. They're like letters home
> > from your boring uncle who went off to France, and keeps complaining
> > about how all the people there speak French.
>
> Well some people are occasionally swayed by what they read. Paying
> attention to the world at large can sometimes have its positive rewards
> as well. Being open to new ideas, thoughts, learning...free thinking in general,
> that sort of thing.
The vast majority are usually too invested in their beliefs or
ideologies to be truly open to argument. There is alway a minority
which is open to new ideas or otherwise teetering on the brink of a
decision.
I don't know how many are reachable but it is always worth extending
one's self if there is something that seems worth saying.
For example books like:
"How the Other Half Lives" by Jacob Riis
and
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
Inspired major changes in public policy.
elag
>
> Also working on "No More Secondhand Art", by Peter London, a book on art
> therapy and creative energy. The author dares to suggest that everyone
> should have a personal experience of the art world, creating their own
> art, using their art to explore their own world. A little flaky in
> style, still, a lot of what London says hits me pretty hard, much to my surprise.
That is the sort of thing I tend to encourage. After the age of ten,
social pressure of various kinds discourages those who do not identify
as "artists" from engaging in artistic expression. Outside of certain
"acceptable" diversions such as gardening, Xmess decorations and golf
pants, such expressions usually lead to some measure of ostracism or at
least a lot of clucking. Females are for some reason allowed more
latitude than males especially in the realm of interior decorations.
There always seem to be a load of unwritten laws governing what forms of
expression are acceptable. I'd love to see the imagination unbound.
Try to imagine what the world would look like if people were not afraid
to express themselves...
>
> What kind of stuff are you reading or have you read recently?
I'm just finishing the biography "Thomas Paine" by A.J. Ayer. It is
quite fascinating as it concentrates on his philosophical thought and
influences. His experiences during the French Revolution are especially
interesting to me.
He only narrowly escaped being executed by the Revolutionaries who he inspired.
I always have a half dozen books open... including:
"The Greatest of Marlys" cartoons by Lynda Barry
"the Mushroom Book"
Peterson Mushroom field guide
"The Tunnel" by Margaret Morton
(photo-journalistic document about underground dwelling homeless people
in manhattan)
> Someone at work told me the other day that he hasn't read a book in over
> two years. The very idea makes my stomach lurch.
I suppose he has enough TeeVee and sports to fulfill him. Out of
curiosity I must ask that you describe him in greater detail... even if
he is dull. From a sociological standpoint I find him interesting.
I must know what the last book he read might have been!
Dale Houstman
>
>
> john adams wrote:
> > I agree, we are not soley reason-based, exacting machines. The
irrational
> > is all around us. But even the irrational has some rationale. We must
> > admit this to ourselves , especially in a newsgroup setting where
> > communicating (often comparing and contrasting, like now) ideas is the
> > usual order of the day.
>
> Yes, there is a logic to the irrational. That, I think, is the concept
> that started surrealism rolling. Dada was about pure noise.
Although this is a popular notion about Dada, it isn't that accurate: Dada
(like most movements) was as complex as the people involved in it. Some of
the participants saw it as primarily an anti-aesthetic, while others
envisioned it as a political organ. So while we have Ball's sound poems,
there are also the rather decorative impulses of Hemmings, and the
confrontational (ambitious) spirit of Tzara. It also had its mystical side,
embodied in Huelsenbeck. The sharp division between Dada and Surrealism
deemed necessary by art historians, so as to simplify their jobs and
dramatize their books, was partly illusory.
>
> What kind of stuff are you reading or have you read recently?
I was reading Peter Ackroyd's "A Biography of London." It's a tad overlong
and repetitive, and Ackroyd makes assumptions about certain events and
places that strike me as hyperbolic and strained, but it is fascinating
nonetheless. I also am re-reading Boswell's "Life Of Johnson." Neither of
these Anglophilic books is apt to promote sexual contemplations, or provoke
a revolution, but they are pleasurable.
>
> Someone at work told me the other day that he hasn't read a book in over
> two years. The very idea makes my stomach lurch.
I can understand someone not reading at all. It isn't my thing, but one can
get through life without doing it much.
dmh
>
Nik Maack
Brandon Freels wrote:
> > Someone at work told me the other day that he hasn't read a book in over
> > two years. The very idea makes my stomach lurch.
>
> He must be dull.
Like day old dishwater lying in the sand in summer heat. Maybe even
duller than that. People that don't read disturb me. Sadly, there seem
to be a lot of people who stopped reading the day they got out of high
school. Which strikes me as sort of creepy.
Nik Maack
elag wrote:
> Try to imagine what the world would look like if people were not afraid
> to express themselves...
I'm quite keen on this idea too -- that everyone can, and should be
encouraged to, express themselves. Art from all people. The world
would really be quite fascinating if we were all chasing our own visions
in various mediums.
They were trying to come up with "days" at work -- funky hat day, pajama
day, that sort of shit. I suggested (half jokingly) art day, where
everyone draws or paint or does something like that.
The idea was met with an appalled silence. I could see them all
thinking, "But I can't draw for beans, I'd only embarrass myself."
(Like pajama day WOULDN'T be embarrassing?) One of them said, "My
talents lie elsewhere."
I found their fear depressing.
On the plus side, none of the "days" have happened so far, thank goodness.
david anthony magitis
elag
Some ideas for theme days:
Hangover Cures Day
Repetitive Stress Injury Day
Abandoned Dreams Day
Functional Illiterate Day
Secret Bigotry Day
Out Of The Closet Day
Bankrupt Pension Plan Day
Downsizing Day
Sexual Harassment Day
Pointless Meeting Day
the only limit is your own imagination.
john adams
> > So, you only read autobiographies and haiku...?
>
> Not exactly. I prefer personal accounts of reality, so any writing that
> is nonfiction first person is particularly dear to me. I just finished
> reading Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie". It's a first person account
> of Steinbeck taking a trip across America. Very witty and dry, with the
> occasional gut-wrenching moments of savagery. I loved it.
>
> Also recently finished "Venus in Furs", by Sacher-Masoch, the man whose
> very name created the term "masochism". It was quite a funny book.
> Sacher-Masoch practically invents all the tropes of the modern masochist
> world. Far more readable than Sade, Sacher-Masoch is strangely creepy
> while being drole. I'm not quite sure if he's funny on purpose, mind you.
>
> I'm slogging my way through "Psychopathia Sexualis" -- a book from the
> 1890s detailing all the perversions known by Kraft-Ebbing, a German
> doctor. He blames almost all mental illness on jerking off. He tells
> parents not to spank their kids, as the kids might get off on it, and
> it'll lead to a life of perversion. His case studies are interesting,
> and his theories are quite bizarre. Makes me wonder how many of our
> modern theories will be seen as ridiculous 100 years from now.
>
> Also working on "No More Secondhand Art", by Peter London, a book on art
> therapy and creative energy. The author dares to suggest that everyone
> should have a personal experience of the art world, creating their own
> art, using their art to explore their own world. A little flaky in
> style, still, a lot of what London says hits me pretty hard, much to my surprise.
>
> Books on my reading list include "Lustmord", a collection of writing and
> art by murderers. Son of Sam, Zodiac, and other killers' writing is
> showcased. Sadly, the book has a painfully tiny font.
>
> "Silent Screams and Hidden Cries", an analysis of drawings by children
> from violent homes -- another art-therapy-related book. That's a
> subject I'm currently exploring. (I have another book on the topic
> being mailed to me -- "Clinical Art Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide".)
>
> And because I'm also interested in sexual deviance -- as if the above
> didn't tell you that already -- I picked up "The Misfits: A Study of
> Sexual Outsiders" by Colin Wilson. Have yet to crack the cover on that
> one. From what little I know about it, it's biographical data on
> perverts throughout history.
>
> What kind of stuff are you reading or have you read recently?
Well, like elag, I always have several different books in the queue
waiting to be read, although that number of still waiting to be
read books tends to be an ever increasing list. Some of the more
recent acquisitions though are:
"My heart through which her heart has passed", the collection of poems
by Breton which I qouted from the other day.
"Arcanum 17", by our friend Breton
"A Long Gone Sun" a long (set of) poem(s) by Claire Malroux
"Charon's Ferry", Fifty poems by the Hungarian Gyula Illyes
"Ainu Dreams", poems by George Quasha in collaboration with
Chie (Buun) Hasegawa
"ABC of Anarchism", By Alexander Berkman, a classic intro
to anarchist ideas published around 1929.
Some books recently given to me, well earlier in the year anyway,
that I haven't finished:
"Steppenwolf', by Herman Hess; "Death on the Installment Plan",
by Celine, and may as well in include this large colorful book
on Gaudi's architure my mom gave me (she probably picked it
up shopping at Target).
I suppose that's about it for now.
-john
Parry
> I'm just finishing the biography "Thomas Paine" by A.J. Ayer. It is
> quite fascinating as it concentrates on his philosophical thought and
> influences. His experiences during the French Revolution are especially
> interesting to me.
>
> He only narrowly escaped being executed by the Revolutionaries who he inspired.
>
> I always have a half dozen books open... including:
>
> "The Greatest of Marlys" cartoons by Lynda Barry
> "the Mushroom Book"
> Peterson Mushroom field guide
> "The Tunnel" by Margaret Morton
> (photo-journalistic document about underground dwelling homeless people
> in manhattan)
Has this become a "what's the last book you read" poll? The last I've
read cover-to-cover are Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" and John
Cale's autobiography "What's Welsh for Zen?" A couple that are lying
around for nibbling on are "Anthology of Black Humor" and a Re/Search
book called "Concrete Jungle."
-- Parry