Surrealism was founded in and around the 1920s. The world war 1 was over and to distance themselves from reality artists started to explore how to portray dreams and reform the world differently through the means of art.
Andre Breton a french poet and participator in the Dada group was the founder of surrealism and wrote the surrealist Manifesto in 1924. In which he discussed the idea that surrealism is 'pure psychic automatism' This brought about artistic practices like automatism - to access your subconscious mind through a creative process. Though intended to be used as a medical practice, this brought a whole lot more for the artistic movement. Poets created automatic writing practices followed by artists attempting to also tackle the subconscious visually through automatic drawings.
Andre Masson - automatic drawing
Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes (1921)
"it cannot be born from a comparison but from a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities" - Andre Breton. These practices were not only portrayed in writing and art but films such as Un Chien Andalou are famous for being surrealist works. The order of the movie is nonsensical but is chopped in a way to create uneasiness in the watcher through contrasting themes. the most famous scene in this movie features a man gazing at the moon caressing a razor on a balcony. The next scene shows the closeup of a woman being held by a man who then slits the womans eye with a razor as she stares ahead. This short segment was Inspired by a dream Buñuel had where a cloud sliced the moon in half "like a razor blade slicing through an eye".
Common themes seen in surrealism include: The human form, organs, flowers, chance encounters, clouds, sex, madness and death.
Uncanny Valley
This is a phenomenon that is appearing more and more in the 21st century with the advancement of technologies such as 3D rendering and robotics. It is the idea of seeing an image that isn't completely ' right' by our own standards. You often notice this in attempts of hyper realistic work where something is considered 'off' or unnatural. This response can even be had when looking at identical twins.
The idea of seeing an uncanny humanoid can trigger a instinct fear of being in danger of dying. Humanoid robots for example can appear normal in form but show no emotions similar to a corpse or even a zombie. This is why common fears for people to have are of clowns and puppets both with inhuman characteristics. If you wish to try out firsthand the feeling of uncanny, try out this simulator cubocc girl where a interactive image of a human like being follows your mouse.
As a creator it is important to make sure you dont fall into the hole of uncanny valley if trying to make appealing characters. Movies such as Tin Tin and the Polar express were deemed too uncomfortably realistic and ruined the experience for the watcher.
I feel in recent times the line between real and fake is being blurred as technology advances. An example of some amazing special effects would be this galaxy advert. Using 3D rendering technology and face doubles the creators completely created a feature using deceased actor Audrey Hepburns likeness to create an otherwise impossible advert.
How long will it be before humans and 'other beings' are indistinguishable? I Feel nothing will stop these technologies from progressing but will there ever be a point where we won't consider humanoid like being to not be uncanny?
