Surrealism is an important artistic movement of the 20th century that rejected rationality and explored the realm of the unconscious. It used automatisms and Depression-era techniques to create pure, unfamiliar imagery, which had a profound impact on literature, theater, film, and other artistic fields, as well as people’s everyday lives.
Surrealism is one of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century. It influenced not only art, but also literature, theater, cinema, and even people’s everyday lives. Surrealist artists rejected the rational world of reason and sought to explore the realm of the unconscious, where reason is beyond their reach. They were fascinated by dreams, the childlike fascination of children, and the madness of the insane. Surrealism was intended to create a new aesthetic by breaking the artistic mold through innovative and atypical techniques.
Surrealism can be divided into two main streams. The first group of Surrealist artists sought to express their ideas through ‘automatic techniques’. This technique involves dictating or drawing whatever comes to mind as quickly as possible without conscious control. The artists, represented by Juan Miro and André Masson, wanted to use automaticity to create works of pure imagery that were completely uncolored by consciousness. Since the automatic technique was a method of painting with the brush stroke in a state of suspended consciousness, it is difficult to detect any formal connection to real objects, people, or landscapes in their works. However, it was not easy to translate the succession of images that came to mind directly into a painting. In addition, those who believed that the artist should be the subject of the creative act became skeptical of the role of the artist, who had become a mere mediator of the unconscious.
The Surrealist group of artists that emerged afterward were inspired by images of the phenomenal and the strange. They liked to place everyday objects in completely out-of-the-way places. In one of his poems, the poet Lotréamont argued that beauty should surprise people, citing the “accidental meeting of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table” as an example, and these strange and surprising images appealed strongly to the Surrealists’ senses. Magritte, Dalí, Deleuze, and Deleuze used dépaisse-netting to paint realistic images of objects and landscapes, but also to present them in a strange way, as if they were sights that could only be seen in a dream. Depaysnets, the technique of removing an object from its original location and placing it in an unexpected place to give it a new feeling, became an important method of expression for the artists of this group. Although these attempts were a departure from the Surrealist principle of expressing the unconscious without the interference of consciousness, they became another representative line of Surrealism in that they represented a world beyond consciousness.
Surrealism was not just a form of art, but a call for a shift in perception throughout society at the time. By emphasizing the importance of the unconscious through dreams, fantasies, and instincts, they also aimed to overthrow the conventional and oppressive structures of society. In this social context, Surrealism became more than just an art movement, but a cultural revolution. Many Surrealist artists continued to experiment with objects, collage, protage, and other methods to express the world of the unconscious. However, it was never easy to escape the grip of consciousness and express the world of the unconscious, so Surrealism all but collapsed by the end of World War II. However, the various methods of expression they tried had a great influence on the subsequent development of modern art. In particular, the automatisms left an important imprint on American abstract expressionism, and the Depression network became an important motif in the development of new ideas in modern figurative art.
Surrealism was heavily influenced by Dadaism, which began in the early 20th century, and the two schools of thought interacted with each other as they developed. The spirit of destruction and negation of conventional art that the Dadaists sought was a great inspiration for Surrealist artists, and the influence of Dadaism can be seen in their work. In this way, Surrealism interacted with various artistic schools of thought and pioneered its own path.
