Surrealism Essay free essay sample

The Surrealism Movement3, 4 Figure 14, 5 Figure 25, 6 Figure 3 6 Conclusion7 List of illustration8-10 List of references12, 13 Surrealism and Contemporary Graphic Design The intention of my essay is to discuss the influence of 20th century surrealism on contemporary graphic design by a comparison of both a formal and contextual analysis of each. The formal and contextual analysis will be on two historical Surrealist arts and one contemporary Graphic design. The two historical Surrealist examples I will use are ‘Construction with Boiled Beans’ and ‘Temptation of St Anthony’ both from famous surrealist artist Salvador Dali and the contemporary Graphic design piece is ‘AE Investimentos: Strange’ by Leo Burnett. The similarities and resemblances between them will allow us to deduce the magnitude of the influence that Surrealism has on contemporary Graphic design. Key terms essential to comprehend this essay is Juxtaposition, fantasy, movement and Dadaism. Juxtaposition in art typically refers to placing together objects which are not usually related or placed together (Skull, 1988: 112), fantasy is an expression of a person’s deep inner thoughts and feelings, often in a strange and unusual or fantastic manner, and sometimes revealing dreams or the unconscious (Skull, 1988:78 amp; 79), a movement in Art and Design refers to a group of people who are moved (motivated or driven) to take the same action, who have the same aims and produce artistic works which identify them as members of the group (Skull, 1988:142) and Dadaism is a movement in Art following the First World War (1914-1918) at which time there was much political, social and psychological unrest, which led many people to have an anti-art, anti-everything attitude. Artists expressed their outrage against the way the world was going by doing absurd things. The Dadaists main characteristic was to juxtapose unpredicted images to surprise and shock (Skull, 1988: 52). The essay will now explore the history and origin of the Surrealist Movement. The surrealist movement originated as a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of phrase called automatic writing, or automatism, which sought to release the unrestrained imagination of the subconscious (Conley, 2003:5). It was one of the most renowned movements of the twentieth century. Surrealism derives from the French word ‘surreal’ which means ‘going beyond the real’ or extending the limits of so-called reality (Levy, 1997:7). Surrealism was a term first used by the Poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire in 1917. The Movement however was founded and put into action by the poet Andre’ Breton in 1924 through his publication of Manifesto of Surrealism making it an international intellectual and political movement (Met museum, 2004). Surrealist artists channeled their subconscious and dreams, they made an analysis of their dreams; and their works reflected  images  of total mind liberation. The Surrealist movement was greatly influenced by the increasing interest of Psychology and Psycho-analysis. Surrealist art was first exhibited in Paris in 1925 which showcased the works of Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso and was unlike what the world had ever seen before (Caws, 1991:3). The movement was also influenced by expressionism, cubism and even used some of the same techniques as the Dadaism movement. The movement had run its course by about 1966 (Kuenzli, 1996:7). The main characteristics of Surrealism are a fondness for juxtaposing things and ideas which are not linked or connected in any way producing astonishment, surprise and a startling effect. It portrays dreams and fantasies and explored the sub-conscious as strong source of creativity and inspiration and illustrated hallucinatory states of mind. Besides juxtaposing characteristics such as levitation, transparency, elongation, changing an objects scale and repetition are used to produce the typical surrealist look (Gassner, 1969:821). Examples of such can be seen in the list of illustrations in all three figures. Figure 1 named Construction with Boiled Beans was created in 1936 by the prominent and famous surrealist artist Salvador Dali in London. Dali practiced tuning into his â€Å"dreamlike† feelings about the world around him and expressing them through art. The Construction with Boiled Beans is Dali’s interpretation of the conflict that is tearing apart his native Spain (Klingsohr-Leroy, 2004:40). Indeed this profound oil on canvas masterpiece is symbolic for the civil war that had great impact on Spain of the same year it was made. Construction with Boiled Beans is a hellish vision of a gigantic humanoid tearing and ripping itself to shreds. In the image there is a horrific scene rotten body parts which appear to be a hand with no wrist attached on the left, and then there is an arm from which another arm branches and forms into yet another hand. It is impossible to describe in a logical manner which makes it seem fantasy like (Acton, 2004:91). The grotesque body, decaying flesh and maggoty beans all symbolically suggest the horrifying conflict of his native land (Doss, 1991:291). This painting is done in a very realistic style but because of the use of juxtaposing it seems to be unreal as can be seen in the other illustrations as well. The gory body members in the painting is largely disproportioned and juxtaposed as objects that are not necessarily linked is put together, e. g. an arm is attached to another arm which is unusual adding to the horror and shock that the illustration oozes. A man’s face which has the expression of great suffering is facing to the sky and the maggots at the ground add to the scene of decay and utter horror. Colour usage in painting is a combination or vibrant colours such as the blue of the sky and dull earthy colours for the skin of the body parts which occupies a large area of the paintings surface. The blue cloudy sky landscape is an element that can be seen in many of Dali’s other work, depicting the subconscious to be an never ending landscape full of terror. Figure 2, named Temptation, St Anthony, was also a creation of Salvador Dali and was completed in 1946. This work by Dali is often branded as Surrealism, an art of the unconscious, and a main style of the Modern World Art period (Fanes, 2007:221). In The Temptation of St. Anthony appears as a emaciated figure, weighed down yet strong, holding off a nightmare parade of extraordinary creatures stalking across an endless plain on massive legs ( Charles, 2011:216). Dalis demons are not monsters from Hell, but demons of the mind, of our sub-conscious. As Dali continually displays creative handling of religious subjects throughout his works, he addresses a subject that was particularly popular throughout this time period: the struggle of the mind not only to be aware of the gods, but also to understand them. The story of this particular painting concerns efforts by the holy man, St. Anthony, to fight against temptations of the flesh that plagued him in his thoughts and dreams (Suleiman, 1994:118). Dalis painting vigorously shows how a mans mind was often his greatest enemy when struggling with religion during the nineteenth and twentieth century’s. In the illustration is St. Anthony to the bottom left holding a cross towards the creatures on the right while he is weighed down by a rock. The creatures consist of a in the background of the horse carry objects that represent the temptations that St. Anthony faces in his subconscious. The creatures all have fragile looking scrawny legs that are elongated in an exaggerated manner making them seem as if they are levitating. We can see many similarities between the art produced during the surrealist movement and that of contemporary graphic design by comparing the discussed illustrations with figure 3. Figure 3 is an advertisement created for AE Investimentos an investment company and named AE Investimentos, Strange. It was created in 2009 by Leo Burnett an advertisement company (StillAd, 2009). At first glance one can immediately see the strong relationship between it and the art the surrealist movement produced, particularly its inspiration came from Salvador Dali’s Temptation of St. Anthony. Besides the change of animals this advert is almost a replica of the original Temptation of St. Anthony. The legs of the animals look very similar to that which Dali depicted and the clouds are a exact copy of his work. The only differences are instead of the majestic horse and elephants there are a camel, pig, and a scrawny old man. Saint Anthony has been replaced with a blind man holding scales and instead of the advert depicting the demons of the mind, as Dali did, it depicts the trials and tribulations people face due to scams and empty promises of money advisers, the blind man with the scale depicting that he cannot properly and accurately judge what is fair so people are ripped off in that sense. The advert also uses similar colours and tones to art of surrealist and has the caption of â€Å"DON’T BE LOST IN THE WEIRD WORLD OF INVESTMENTS† at the top right corner. It is without a doubt that Leo Burnett had been greatly influenced and drew their inspiration from the bizarre surreal world of art. Through the investigation and analysis of the illustrative examples it is safe to conclude that surrealism has greatly influenced and benefited contemporary graphic design whether visually or conceptually. This influence can be seen by the stylistic characteristics in AE Investimentos, strange that traces back to work of the surrealist movement. Characteristics such as the juxtaposing of the surrealist movement ad to the horror and shock in AE Investimentos advert and surely have greatly inspired and benefited other contemporary graphic artist. List of Illustrations Figure 1 Salvador Dali Construction with Boiled beans, 1936 Oil canvas 99. 9 x 100cm Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950. London Image from: Acton, M. 2004. Learning to look at Modern Art. London: Routledge. 91 Figure 2 Salvador Dali Temptation of St Anthony, 1946 Oil canvas 108 x 128cm Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum London Image from: Weyers, F, 2000. Salvador Dali: Life and Works. Nebraska: Barnes amp; Nobles. 67 Figure 3 Leo Burnett AE Investimentos: Strange, 2009 Advertisement, Print Sao Paulo, Brazil Image from: StillAd, 2009. AE Investimentos: Surreal. AE Investimentos: Surreal. [Online]. Available: http://www. stillad. com/ae-investimentos-surreal-1596. htm. [25 April 2013] List of references Acton, M. 2004. learning to look at Modern Art. London: Routlege. Conley, K. 2003. Robert Desnos, surrealism, and the marvelous in everyday life. America: University of Nebraska Press. Caws, M. 1991. Surrealism and women. America: MIT Press. Charles, V. 2011. Dali. New York: Parkstone Press International. Doss, E. 1991. Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism. London: The University of Chicago Press, Ltd. Fanes, F. 2007. Salvador Dali:  The Construction of the Image. London: Yale University Press. Gassner, J. 1969. The readers encyclopedia of world drama. America: Dover Publications. Johnson, P. 2003. Art , a new history. Great Britain: Weidenfeld amp; Nicolson. Kuenzli, R. 1996. Dada and surrealist film. New York: MIT Press. Klingsohr-Leroy, C. 2004. Surrealismus. Germany: Taschen. Levy, S. 1997. Surrealism: Surrealist Visuality. England: Edinburgh University Press. Skull, J. 1988. Key terms in ART, CRAFT and DESIGN. Brighton South Australia: Elbrook Press. Suleiman, R. 1994. Risking Who One Is: Encounters With Contemporary Art and Literature. America: Harvard University Press. StillAd, 2009. AE Investimentos: Surreal. AE Investimentos: Surreal. [Online]. Available: http://www. stillad. com/ae-investimentos-surreal-1596. htm. [25 April 2013] Voorhies, J. 2004. Surrealism: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Surrealism. [Online]. Available: http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr. htm. [25 April 2013].