Thoughts on Surrealism
William Smith
express either verbally or in writing the true function of thought. Thought
dictated in the absence of all control exerted by reason, and outside all
aesthetic or moral preoccupations.
Philos., Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of
certain forms of association heretofore neglected, in the omnipotence of the
dream, and in the disinterested play of thought.
It leads to the permanent destruction of all other psychic mechanisms and to
its substitution for them in the solution of the principal problems of life.
....................Andre Breton, "First Surrealist Manifesto"......1924
solve et coagula,
william
gree...@designlink.com
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Ross Green
> Here is some text that I read recently that basically said that the
> women in the surrealist movement were hangers on, wives and
> girlfriends...
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> Surrealism thus exalted the female, but the female imprisoned
> within a world of childhood and immaturity. And it perpetuated
> Western culture's dichotomous equation of woman with nature
> and the intuitive, and man with culture and the cerebral, thereby
> celebrating - according to the values of patriarchal society - a
> relationship of inequality.
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> So why is it so difficult for women to get recognition for their own
> work?
> Why is it that a movement based on typically female characteristics
> (intuition, dreams, imagination) is so defined by the men in the
> movement?
Because they lived in a phallocentric universe.
Ever seen this quote? (A collaborative effort by Paul Eluard &
Andre Breton): "To discover the nakedness of the one you love,
look at her hands. Her face is lowered."
They admired submissive beauty... The Marquis de Sade was one of
their favorite writers.
-Ross
Mark Henson / Monti Moore
>
>MDolinsky <doli...@evl.eecs.uic.edu> wrote:
>
>> Here is some text that I read recently that basically said that the
>> women in the surrealist movement were hangers on, wives and
>> girlfriends...
of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington,who were certainly more than
girlfriends or hangers-on.
MDolinsky
Althought they may be surrealists, they are not listed in the history of
art movements texts as major surrealists. Remedios definitely hung out
with the Surrealists (escaped Europe with them) but in terms of status or
recognition: who? In fact, I cannot add to your mention of Carrington.
Art exhibits and texts describing the discovery of Surrealism and the
relationship of its authors mention no women (except through marriage or
circumstance).
My actual interest is how was a major movement that was exploring 'feminine'
qualities (dreams, intuition, unconscious, etc.) so well defined by men:
Breton, Ernst, Magritte, et al.