Surrealism and My
Project
As I have mentioned previously, my studio
project explores the way in which horror is
communicated and illustrated within 3D environments. I decided early on that I
wanted to study and research surrealism in terms
of art, visual aesthetics and reference but then I thought why not be slightly
different and try to use surrealism within my environment as a meant o inject
horror into the level and communicate fear to the player?
I decided I needed to gain a better historical understanding of the art movement itself, explore its roots and origins to further strengthen my cause for including the work within my project. I found “Dada: Europe After the Rain” (Gold, M.1978), a documentary directed by Mick Gold that outlines the historical movement of Dadaism and how it inspired connoisseurs of surrealism.
I decided I needed to gain a better historical understanding of the art movement itself, explore its roots and origins to further strengthen my cause for including the work within my project. I found “Dada: Europe After the Rain” (Gold, M.1978), a documentary directed by Mick Gold that outlines the historical movement of Dadaism and how it inspired connoisseurs of surrealism.
As I watched the documentary I took
notes that I felt would benefit my understanding of the evolution of
surrealism. I found the documentary
incredibly insightful and I learnt a lot from watching it.
Surrealism as an art form is something that has always encapsulated me and
influenced me. The thought of using it to inspire my final year project is
exciting. Here are my notes :D
André Breton was known as the father of
surrealism. Born in 1896, Breton was a French poet and write who went onto
writing the first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924.
Andre Breton
'Figure' (1928) - Andre
Breton
Francis Picabia was born in 1879 and
was a French painter. He was heavily associated with art forms such as cubism,
abstract, Dada and surrealism.
Francis Picabia
“Otaiti”
(1930) - Francis Picabia
Picabia created periodical magazine “391”. The magazine wasn’t showcasing art
despite Picabia being a renowned artist, it was mainly literary contents
however, the magazine still illustrated the Dada art movement. The documentary
had a fantastic quote which I find inspiring for my own work with regards to
injecting horror and evoking emotion through visual media.
Example pages from Picabia’s 391
391 is a
magazine that sort of reflects the psychological horror aesthetics. He set out
to create a magazine where pages were "every page must
explode though seriousness, profundity, nausea,
annihilating nonsense or the way
it is printed. Art must be un-aesthetic in the extreme useless and impossible
to justify".
Dada enthusiast Marcel Duchamp said “I wanted to put painting one again at the
surface of the mind, to establish myself as far as possible against pleasing or
attractive paintings“.
This
makes me think about how surrealism as a form can be sued to communicate the
opposite of beauty, natural and attractive. It reinforces the notion to use
surrealism within my environment to communicate horror.
Duchamp’s 1912 "nude
descending a stair case", bicycle wheel, "no aesthetic emotion"
(reflects the emotions associated with aesthetics of horror games”
Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase”
Duchamp also created a piece named “Fountain”. It was essentially a porcelain urinal
with the signature “R. Mutt” on the
side. The documentary stated that there was much controversy associated with
the piece as it saw rejections from in issues of magazines and galleries.
Duchamp’s Fountain
Bearing in mind the themes of
obscurity, un natural, un-aesthetic and ugly, George Grosz created this piece
which was supposed to symbolises Berlins society status a the time. In other
words, the image was metaphorical of something else, a common element used in
psychological horror games such as Silent Hill. There is a connection to be
made between Dadaism, surrealism and my horror project.
This piece makes me feel uncomfortable
and the obscurity of the pig faced figure hanging over the crowd who are
seemingly unaware is hauntingly reminiscent of character behaviour in
psychological games. Inspirational .
George Grosz on Berlin Society
- "anti art artists“
- Extreme symbolism
- Art depicts
secret desires and makes use of "garbage" claiming that it's just as worthwhile as using the pigments of
paint.
- "the
picturesque is the opposite of art, art is the opposite of life"
- "Dada is a
state of mind“
- "Dada is
the point in which yes and no and everything else in between meet“
- "Dada is useless like everything else in life, Dada has no pretentions, just like life should have none”
Chirico’s 'The Uncertainty of the Poet'
An inspiring and relevant quote from
Chirico explaining the aesthetics of surrealism and how it can be created: “"to create previously unknown
sensations, to strip art of everything routine and accepted, to see everything
including man as the thing itself, for a work of art to be truly mortal it must
go beyond the limits of the human. Common sense and logic will fail, in this
manner it will approach the dream and mentality of childhood".
"...Reality is
the apparent absence of contradictions. The marvellous is the eruption of
contradictions within the real. Love is a state of confusion between the real
and marvellous. When the marvellous is dis-possessed the abstract moves in.”
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i
Domènech, or Salvador Dali as we know him, was born in 1904. He became one of
the most influential artists in the Dada movement encaptivating his own unique
brand of surrealim that many dissagreed with. He claims his work was based upon
illusions and that it promoted concret irrationalities.
Salvador Dali
"Paranoia makes
use of the external world to oppose its obsessive notions with disturbing
particularity. The external word serves as a illustration based as the surface
of the minds reality. I believe the moment is near when the procedure of active
paranoiac thought will make it possible to systematise confusion and contribute
to the total discrediting world of reality."
Living Still Life - Dali
The Persistence of Memory - Dali
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor
and painter among other crafts. His works include many surreal sculpts. The
documentary stated that they: were created with the intention to arouse
unconscious desires.
"Everyone who saw his objects experiences
strong but indefinable sexual emotion. This emotion
was not one of satisfaction but of
disturbance. Like that imparted by the irritating awareness of failure.
Alberto Giacometti
'Hour of the Traces' - Giacometti
The documentary finishes up talking
about Andre Breton and his artistic movement after the world war. It states
that he began to move away from politics and psychology and declares he is
attempting to draw connections between dreams and reality stating that it is
magic.
"..The occult is
extremely interesting in that it maintains the dynamic state the infinite
system of correspondences that lies and mans disposal. Giving him the key to
relations which are capable of linking objects that are apparently un connected
and partially uncovering the mechanisms
of universal symbolism.”
Dada and Surrealism
Summary
Watching this documentary really helped
me gain a better understanding of the fundamentals behind the surrealism art
movement and its roots in Dadaism. The
themes illustrated and explored in the artwork associated with these movements
is rooted firmly in similar concepts to that of psychological horror games. The
ways in which the artists wanted to manipulate the audiences emotion to their
artwork is reminiscent of my project and how I want to inject horror into my
environment and communicate it to the audience. Here are a few of the key
themes and ideas that I have taken from the documentary worth nothing and using
as inspiration for my environment.
- Reflects the psychological horror aesthetics
- Seriousness, profundity, nausea, annihilating
- Extreme symbolism
- Depicts secret desires
- Common sense and logic will fail
- Dream and mentality of childhood
- The apparent absence of contradictions
- Astate of confusion between the real and marvellous
- Marvellous is dis-possessed the abstract moves in
- Paranoia
- Obsessive notions with disturbing particularity
- Total discrediting world of reality
- This emotion was not one of satisfaction but of disturbance
- Linking objects that are apparently un connected
- Symbolism
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