Lesson on: Surrealism

1. Lesson on: Surrealism

2. Opening Activity Take five or ten minutes to write, in your notebooks, a summary paragraph of a dream you recently had or perhaps had a while ago. Was there any people in your life that you recognized in your dream? Where did the dream take place? How did the dream leave you feeling after you woke up? When you were dreaming how real did it feel?

3. What is Surrealism??? Surrealism is a style of art which stresses the subconscious significance of imagery of unexpected Juxtaposition. It was principally developed in the 20th century. Some notable Surrealist artists are Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Rene Magritte. We will be discussing works by these artists throught todays lesson.

4. Visual Components • Surrealistic art adheres to three visual components. • These components although necessary are very diverse in their own respect. • To be considered Surrealistic art a piece must contain at least one of these three components: • -Juxtaposition, Altered Reality and Dream Analysis.

5. Juxtaposition • We all understand contrast. Juxtaposition is merely a more extreme and intense form of contrast: • Juxtaposition: Instance of placing things together for purpose of comparison. • Juxtaposed images usually include scenes which contradict themselves or would never be seen in reality. • Ex. A lion and a gazelle linking arms and skipping merrily together.

6. Altered Reality • Altered reality include scenes of things that we all recognize but they are portrayed in a way that they would most likely never be seen. • Altered reality images can contain things as simple as an object whose color has been changed, to its features exaggerated to objects who defy the laws of physics. • Ex. A purple elephant or people floating around in soap bubbles.

7. Dream Analysis No one remembers their dreams exactly let alone understand why we dream in the first place. Surrealist art offers a look into the minds eye, depicting scenes that do not always appear to make sense or have any meaning at all. That is how dreams are however, nonsensical.

8. Caption reads: “This is not a pipe.” How is the image by Magritte an example of Juxtaposition?

9. Salvador Dali Dali was a Spanish Surrealist artist born in May 1904 who was known for his bizarre images. His style is often attributed to the influence of the Renaissance masters.

10. How many of the three components of Surrealism found in Dali’s painting The Persistence of Memory? How are each of them utilized?

11. Which components are incorporated into these pieces?