Surrealism
Origins
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The movement was born in the rebellious post-World War I spirit of Dada, a movement that questioned the rationality of bourgeois capitalist society and its legacy of war. The most important center of the movement was Paris, France, where André Breton, the main spokesman of Surrealism, published "The Surrealist Manifesto" in 1924.
Philosophy
Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principal problems of life. The movement’s poets and artists found magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional.
Artistic Practices
The Surrealists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by psychoanalysis, the Surrealists believed the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighting it down with taboos. Influenced also by Karl Marx, they hoped that the psyche had the power to reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution.
Impact and Legacy
The impact of Surrealism can be seen in various other artistic movements, such as Abstract Expressionism and the works of many contemporary artists. The movement also influenced the world of advertising and fashion, as well as providing a major influence on pop culture, from science fiction to comic books.