Manifesto
Marketplace
What is Surrealism?
While it is most definetly a movement of painters and artists, the poet had a place as well. There was an emphasis on automation; a painter "was not a madman or a medium", but only attempting "to discover the mental state that would allow him a comparable exploration of his thoughts" (Durozoi 79). The poem shown below exempllifies the dream like state adored by these artists. The lines "I am not I / nor is my house now my house" are very impactful and show how disembodied the Surrealists attempted to become. Federico García Lorca was an important poet who was influecned by and influenced famous Surrealist Salvador Dali, whose painting The Accomdation of Desire is below. Some important figures include André Breton, Salvador Dali, Federico Garcia Lorca, Man Ray, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miro. Enjoy the Art !
Romance Sonambulo
by Federico García Lorca
translated by William Logan
Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea
and the horse on the mountain.
With the shade around her waist
she dreams on her balcony,
green flesh, her hair green,
with eyes of cold silver.
Green, how I want you green.
Under the gypsy moon,
all things are watching her
and she cannot see them.
Green, how I want you green.
Big hoarfrost stars
come with the fish of shadow
that opens the road of dawn.
The fig tree rubs its wind
with the sandpaper of its branches,
and the forest, cunning cat,
bristles its brittle fibers.
But who will come? And from where?
She is still on her balcony
green flesh, her hair green,
dreaming in the bitter sea.
--My friend, I want to trade
my horse for her house,
my saddle for her mirror,
my knife for her blanket.
My friend, I come bleeding
from the gates of Cabra.
--If it were possible, my boy,
I'd help you fix that trade.
But now I am not I,
nor is my house now my house.
--My friend, I want to diedecently in my bed.
Of iron, if that's possible,
with blankets of fine chambray.
Don't you see the wound I have
from my chest up to my throat?
--Your white shirt has grown
thirsty dark brown roses.
Your blood oozes and
flees around the corners of your sash.
But now I am not I,
nor is my house now my house.
--Let me climb up, at least,
up to the high balconies;
Let me climb up! Let me,
up to the green balconies.
Railings of the moon
through which the water rumbles.
Now the two friends climb up,
up to the high balconies.
Leaving a trail of blood.
Leaving a trail of teardrops.
Tin bell vineswere trembling on the roofs.
A thousand crystal tambourines
struck at the dawn light.
Green, how I want you green,
green wind, green branches.
The two friends climbed up.
The stiff wind left
in their mouths, a strange taste
of bile, of mint, and of basil
My friend, where is she--tell me--
where is your bitter girl?
How many times she waited for you!
How many times would she wait for you,
cool face, black hair,
on this green balcony!
Over the mouth of the cistern
the gypsy girl was swinging,
green flesh, her hair green,
with eyes of cold silver.
An icicle of moon
holds her up above the water.
The night became intimate
like a little plaza.
Drunken "Guardias Civiles"
were pounding on the door.
Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea.
And the horse on the mountain.
“Dear imagination, what I love most about you is that you are unforgiving”
-André Breton
André Breton published The Surrealist Manifesto in 1924 and it “begins with a defense of the rights of the imagination as being the only rights capable of helping the individual avoid a ‘fate without light.’” (Durozoi 67). The manifesto uplifted the imagination and the dream as reinforcement of the idea that thought has more extensive possibilities than in previous traditions. The surrealist movement aimed “to express the real process of thought” and the artist were to be “simple and modest recording instruments” (68). This group set out to reshape the conception of humankind and of thought that had been altered by both the groups before and the destrucitve force of World War I. The rights of the dreamer were brought to the forefront of this movement and surrealist writing sought to reveal the automatic stream of unconscious thoughts of alternate realities. In short, Surrealists created a strong movement to subvert the thinking of the art world and to emphasize a fresh take on representation.
Surrealism
Less Time
by André Breton
Less time than it takes to say it, less tears than it takes to die; I've taken account of everything,
there you have it. I've made a census of the stones, they are as numerous as my fingers and some
others; I've distributed some pamphlets to the plants, but not all were willing to accept them. I've
kept company with music for a second only and now I no longer know what to think of suicide, for
if I ever want to part from myself, the exit is on this side and, I add mischievously, the entrance, the
re-entrance is on the other. You see what you still have to do. Hours, grief, I don't keep a
reasonable account of them; I'm alone, I look out of the window; there is no passerby, or rather no
one passes (underline passes). You don't know this man? It's Mr. Same. May I introduce Madam
Madam? And their children. Then I turn back on my steps, my steps turn back too, but I don't
know exactly what they turn back on. I consult a schedule; the names of the towns have been
replaced by the names of people who have been quite close to me. Shall I go to A, return to B,
change at X? Yes, of course I'll change at X. Provided I don't miss the connection with boredom!
There we are: boredom, beautiful parallels, ah! how beautiful the parallels are under God's
perpendicular.
Max Ernst. Oedipus Rex. 1921. Oil on canvas. Private Collection.
Salvador Dali. L'Accommodation du désir. Oil and collage on wood. Private Collection.
A picture of André Breton