MPC 125 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Surrealist Automatism, Surrealist Manifesto, Fantastic Universe
Document Summary
Breton, who had been a student in neurology as a medical student, was very interested in the search for primary images buried in the unconscious. He wanted surrealist paintings to give form to humanity"s most primary instincts. He wanted artists to eschew all pretensions of style, so as to behave as "modest recording devices", of the unconscious. The artist/writer, instead of the genius esteemed by society, becomes merely a conduit for something more important. Changes again the idea and role of the artist. The surrealist had to empty his/her mind of any preconceived notions and achieve a passive state. Only then could one begin to draw or paint. For breton, surrealism was the spontaneous exploitation of. "pure psychic automatism", allowing the production of an abundance of unexpected images. He did not promote the depiction of a fantastic universe. Instead, he wanted to reconcile reality with the irrational processes which arise in ecstatic states or in dreams.
