After World War I, the world was filled with men and women who had witnessed the insanity of a Great War. The artistic world obviously had one of the most visible responses to this life-changing event in movements like Dada, and later Surrealism. Surrealism stemmed from Dada but was less Violent in its distaste for everyday life and still put some emphasis on the act of producing art, even though the art they produced was far from the academic practice, (“The Origins of Surrealism”) Despite the fact that they chose more traditional mediums, Surrealists were interested in nontraditional subject matter and nontraditional ways of producing work One cannot discuss Surrealism without bringing up Sigmund Freud, his book The Interpretation of Dreams, and the idea of the unconscious being a treasure trove of hidden desires and messages the conscious isn’t aware of until they’re dug out through dreams and automation.
Surrealists were deeply interested in the unconscious and what potential could be uncovered by unlocking it, Dreams were one of the easiest ways to hear and see the messages of the unconscious, and were seen as just as real and important as “reality”. The Surrealists wanted to reject the very idea that reality was more important than dreams and hoped to achieve surreality when reality and the unconscious worked together to produce an absolute reality. Surrealists produced works through a variety of different techniques and processes, from collaboration through the exquisite corpse exercise to free writing under hypnosis. Joan Miro produced many automatic drawings that he tttrned into paintings, which he called his pictures sauvuges, paintings of violent imagery executed violently (“Seated Woman ll”). Along with their two-dimensional work, some other Surrealists like Dali and Man Ray produced surreal objects by means of free association and asked “what if?”
Miro‘s Seated Woman 11 was painted in response to the violence of the Spanish Civil War, a fact that is immediately apparent when looking at this painting. The background of the painting is a cloudy field of cool tones watered down with a wash of white, calling to mind the sky or the colors of the galaxy, adding to the cosmic references placed throughout the rest of the painting In the middle of the field is the figure of a woman depicted as a twisted, anguished beast, her teeth gnashing and her neck stretched out to its length. Taking hints from other Surrealists’ reactions through paintings to the Spanish Civil War, it can be assumed the woman represents Spain in torment during the time the country was tearing itself apart. The viewer is instantly aware of the contrast of the figure against the cloudy background, as well as the other shapes distributed around the canvas.
To the right of the woman hover two intersecting shapes that echo her squared shoulders and elongated skullt Out of these boxy shoulders grow her arms and neck, vine-like and curving. The emblems of the sun, moon, and stars on her collar along with the fish and bird shapes hovering around her represent the coexistence of dichotomies throughout the cosmos, an idea probably not on many people’s minds during a time of civil war (“Seated Woman 11”). This painting is an example of the Surrealist‘s emphasis on the subconscious through Miré’s use of automatic drawing, as well as their disregard for the way things “should look.” The figure of the woman is far from realistic, but easily communicates the feeling Miro may have been feeling while drawing, or is the feeling his unconscious was harboring while thinking about the Spanish Civil War. Man Ray’s Object to be Destroyed was created in a less dire time and with originally with a lighter purpose.
The object was created to be a silent observer in his studio while he painted. This object is part readymade, part assemblage. The metronome was manufactured by a company and purchased by Man Ray, and the photograph of the eye was added by the artist. The combination of the repeated rhythmic movement of the metronome and therefore the image of the eye would give the object an almost robotic quality. When on display, though, the metronome is motionless and its purpose is a little less clear because of the addition of the eye. It‘s no longerjust a tool for keeping time with musiciit’s been given a human quality that never would’ve been attributed to it while thinking logically.
The original object was actually destroyed (or at least stolen) by a group of students protesting Dada when it was on display in 1957 (”MoMA”), and Man Ray recreated it with the eye of his ex-lover and muse, Lee Miller. The replica was retitled “Indestructible Object” and had a set of instructions accompanying it for anyone to create their own Indestructible Objecti These instructions make the emotional weight of the object/portrait clear to the viewer: “Cut out the eye from the photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more Attach the eye to the pendulum of a metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo desired. Keep going to the limit of endurance.
With a hammer well- aimed, try to destroy the whole at a single blow (MoMA)? The two selected works are good examples of the scope of Surrealist work and the different ways they interpret the events going on in their lives The tragedies of love and war are some of the most influential subjects for any artist, so it would make sense that such dramatic and mind-altering occasions would be a favorite among Surrealists. Aided by the unconscious through means of automation and free association, Mini and Man Ray created compelling work they would not have been able to do otherwise.
