Conscious Liberation: Surrealism

As the short lived anti-art movement Dada was ending, the surrealists took its place. Though unlike Dada, surrealism was not aimed at creating unsystematic and frenzied artwork designed to be negative, the surrealists were optimistic.

Andre Breton is recognized as the one who gave birth to the surrealist movement after leaving the Dadaist group following frequent arguments and opposing views of opinion. A French doctor and ex-soldier who fought in World War 1, Breton heavily studied the writings of Sigmund Freud and he along with his fellow artists strongly believed that complete liberation of the human psyche and soul lie in the subconscious. Breton believed that many magnificent and powerful ideas could be reached by tapping into the subconscious mind. The surrealists did this in a few ways and they could be categorized into two different groups which are automatism and veristic surrealism. Automatism was preformed by either writing or drawing spontaneously free of any direct thought or plan. Veristic surrealism, meaning realistic, is a significant amount different than automatism which was more abstract than anything. Veristic surrealists portrayed the dream world in a unique and unforgettable fashion, the most recognizable figures that used this technique was Salvador Dali. The veristic style is much more widely recognized than the automatism technique.

As previously noted, the intent of the surrealist was that of a positive nature. During the golden age of surrealism the entire world was in disarray. The ravages of World War 1 and 2 were busy taking their toll in Europe while in North America the great depression arrived in the dirty thirties. The objective was to take the viewer to a new plain, the subconscious, to distract them from the horrors of that time. With a bit of luck, a tortured soul could feel a release though a Dali painting or in the writings of Andre Breton. What is certain is the impact the surrealists had on the world. Dada was short lived for a reason, it was angst-ridden and had no particular aim but to destroy anything it touched, including itself. The surrealists created a new breed of art which has changed the face of modern art, anything from paintings and writing to film and theater.