Surrealism

Surrealism is a revolution, a cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement oriented toward the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative faculties of the "unconscious mind" and the attainment of a state different from, "more than", and ultimately truer than everyday reality: the "sur-real", i.e. more than real. For many Surrealists, this orientation toward transcending everyday reality toward one that incorporates the imaginative and the unconscious has manifested itself in the intent to bring about personal, cultural, political and social revolution, sometimes conceived or described as a complete transformation of life by freedom, poetry, love, and sexuality. In the words of André Breton, generally regarded as the founder of surrealism: "beauty will be convulsive or not at all." At various times individual surrealists aligned themselves with communism and anarchism to advance radical political and social change, arguing that only transformed institutions of work, the family, and education could make possible a general participation in the surreal. More recently some surrealists have participated in feminist and radical environmentalist activities for similar reasons.

External links

• Manifesto of Surrealism by André Breton. 1924.
• What is Surrealism? Lecture by Breton, Brussels 1934
• Surrealism on the Web: A collection of information on Surrealism, Surreal artists, and surreal websites.
• The Surrealism Server
• Goetia Fine Art - Surrealism
• Jan Svankmajer: Alchemist of the surreal
• The Surrealist Movement in Serbia
• The Surrealist Movement in the United States