dada & Surrealism
Getting It, Chapter 12
dada and Surrealism were two different movements that shared an interest in the unconscious mind and chance. They are often presented in one chapter (as I've done here, for economy's sake) even though they had more differences than similarities. Surrealism focused on dreams and chance, while dada questioned to notion of meaning, the absurdity of existence, and celebrated an anti-art, anti-social, anti-everything attitude that continues to influence art and artists today. Marcel Duchamp, dada's great genius, contributed the idea of the "ready-made" or found object as art.
Readymade...
Exquisite Corpse
SURREALISM was influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud, published in 1915. The idea of the human unconscious (same as sub-conscious), a “reality” that is beyond conscious control, was enormously interesting to creative people: artists, writers, etc. The 2 aspects explored were DREAMS and ACCIDENTS or CHANCE (you can’t control or suppress your dreams and you can’t control the roll of the dice).
Artists and writer’s used “the exquisite corpse” --- GOOD QUESTION: where did the term come from and what, if anything, does it mean? --- for example, as on page 149 in your workbook: opening a book at random and finding a word, continuing to make a “poem.”
Recently I have started using Facebook to translate comments by my friends from Japan. FB is a terrible translator! But the results are often quite beautiful, and here are some “accidental poems,” a la Surrealism:
Really... It's from my home too long I'm piled up.
From sunny woman went home dear.
Where you still left half thickness
at hips and shoulders are limits.
I'm without a ladder can ride on the roof.
Too late there is go to the rescue next month.
I tired out. Bath, or recover at all free!
I'm going home is! To fall too much snow, right?
I wish... Light before the wind is not?!
This gone it is gone. Snow died going under water.
(Rie/Bing)
How I can I be together so far?
(Rie/Bing)
Door is removed, the tones will not fit.
Advice is available and office decorations when gained better.
I come so such survival tours galore.
Surely face around will affect me.
It’s a bird of passage who might be interested.
I gather by no.
So You! It came back!
I feel I saw the arctic, what I couldn’t see
No phone for people, that to my friends just dramatic
When you thought and name to find apartments
Just point and lost return while borrowed
From calls to people on the roadside
Said he finally hook my calls.
(Chika/Bing)
First bite is always such a shape
It is a happiness every day
His cheeks was sugar on your cheek
In the odd appearance out of the lion
Plush home pondering is funny.
I am always healed in the waste,
Done, I also buy, finally leaving your face!
To shoot as the god of death always different looks,
I also love.
Art smells then it is very so, and
Because the urge to want to ride this face
that you are not after dinner,
pondering on I also like to try.
(Rie/Bing)
Walk in the waltz, were yesterday were bruised stumble in flip flops, taught me what mountain is in triple time climbing in, thumb's very lovely.
In the convenience store's clerk badges from Tango's written the pace gradually with staccato of to 4. Green light flashes for the first time
Cha Cha Cha. Turn the revolving door. Tailing Coneco tiptoe. Today also I danced completely. But may be soldier of the triple time is peaceful.
(Chika/Bing)
Cabbage Caterpillar dog love.
Ah, boring.
Unusually slowly in the flow of time,
what neither can afford neither hope nor fear
is not the terrible has been surrounded by air.
Royally rely dog Shepherd, has also cast iron waffle maker.
Knew that life can own or sometime heavy things
I've noticed is was in the midst of such a life.
Well, that's all fine, that thing on.
(Chika/Bing, 4/16/2015)
Artists and writer’s used “the exquisite corpse” --- GOOD QUESTION: where did the term come from and what, if anything, does it mean? --- for example, as on page 149 in your workbook: opening a book at random and finding a word, continuing to make a “poem.”
Recently I have started using Facebook to translate comments by my friends from Japan. FB is a terrible translator! But the results are often quite beautiful, and here are some “accidental poems,” a la Surrealism:
Really... It's from my home too long I'm piled up.
From sunny woman went home dear.
Where you still left half thickness
at hips and shoulders are limits.
I'm without a ladder can ride on the roof.
Too late there is go to the rescue next month.
I tired out. Bath, or recover at all free!
I'm going home is! To fall too much snow, right?
I wish... Light before the wind is not?!
This gone it is gone. Snow died going under water.
(Rie/Bing)
How I can I be together so far?
(Rie/Bing)
Door is removed, the tones will not fit.
Advice is available and office decorations when gained better.
I come so such survival tours galore.
Surely face around will affect me.
It’s a bird of passage who might be interested.
I gather by no.
So You! It came back!
I feel I saw the arctic, what I couldn’t see
No phone for people, that to my friends just dramatic
When you thought and name to find apartments
Just point and lost return while borrowed
From calls to people on the roadside
Said he finally hook my calls.
(Chika/Bing)
First bite is always such a shape
It is a happiness every day
His cheeks was sugar on your cheek
In the odd appearance out of the lion
Plush home pondering is funny.
I am always healed in the waste,
Done, I also buy, finally leaving your face!
To shoot as the god of death always different looks,
I also love.
Art smells then it is very so, and
Because the urge to want to ride this face
that you are not after dinner,
pondering on I also like to try.
(Rie/Bing)
Walk in the waltz, were yesterday were bruised stumble in flip flops, taught me what mountain is in triple time climbing in, thumb's very lovely.
In the convenience store's clerk badges from Tango's written the pace gradually with staccato of to 4. Green light flashes for the first time
Cha Cha Cha. Turn the revolving door. Tailing Coneco tiptoe. Today also I danced completely. But may be soldier of the triple time is peaceful.
(Chika/Bing)
Cabbage Caterpillar dog love.
Ah, boring.
Unusually slowly in the flow of time,
what neither can afford neither hope nor fear
is not the terrible has been surrounded by air.
Royally rely dog Shepherd, has also cast iron waffle maker.
Knew that life can own or sometime heavy things
I've noticed is was in the midst of such a life.
Well, that's all fine, that thing on.
(Chika/Bing, 4/16/2015)
Surrealist self-portraits and examples
Dreams
Both Surrealists and dadaists explored the realm of the human unconscious. Dreams were of particular interest to certain Surrealists, Dali being the most obvious with his head-sized canvases deriving from journals of his dreams. Keeping a dream journal isn't easy, but, once you develop a habit, it can be very entertaining and perhaps even meaningful.
A friend recently gave me a book that presumes to interpret 12,000 images, symbols, and incidents from one's dreams. "12,000 Dreams Interpreted" by Gustavus Hindman Miller, revised and updated by Linda Shields and Lenore Skomal, was first published a century ago but has been updated to include 21st Century concepts. Using a book like this that focuses on symbols and their purported meaning, it is fun to do "interpretations" of one's dreams, as the following examples demonstrate.
Saturday, 12/28/2013
Ray had a dream about being chased.
To dream of being chased suggests a comfortable life with new friends and family.
He had played a joke on Charlotte.
To dream of telling a funny joke implies good business success in the future.
He threw into Charlotte’s room a large swordfish wrapped in a serape that had cactus needles sticking out.
To dream of cactus implies smooth sailing in your love affairs.
2/20/2013 (Becky, from journal notes)
I dreamed I was in a car with Sandy during “horrible black storms.”
To see and hear a storm approaching foretells continued sickness, unfavorable business, and separation from friends, which will cause distress.
There was a sexual episode in some woman’s gorgeous house; her business (Ruby) is there.
To dream of a ruby means that you will be lucky in business or love.
I was to give a presentation at a hotel.
To dream of giving a speech means improved social status.
I wandered around the city and, arriving late, I found out the electricity was off and the event was cancelled.
To dream of traveling signifies profit and pleasure combined. To dream that you go on a journey signifies profit or disappointment,
depending on whether the travels are pleasing and successful or whether accidents and disagreeable events intrude.
To dream of electricity implies that there will be sudden changes about you that will not afford you either advancement or pleasure.
To dream of darkness overtaking you on a journey augurs ill for any work you may attempt.
To dream of experiencing an electrical blackout suggests you use your five senses to solve problems in your life.
To cancel or have something canceled in a dream is a warning to be careful in your love life.
Expense money for travel wasn’t paid to two presenters who didn’t arrive.
To dream of being paid predicts an unexpected monetary gain.
AND THE BEST ONE... dream intact, followed by dream and interpretations
4/5/2013 3 A.M. (exact words from journal entry)
In my dream I couldn’t sleep.
There was music, at first good, then loud for ¼ hour. I am terribly congested. I adjust the volume control and get up to find a decongestant. I meet Ray leaving the bedroom. “Needed water,” he said.
I take out a contact lens with a crust of orange, drop it on the floor but see it land and place both lenses, with orange crusts, carefully in a spot on a high shelf.
Back in bed I cannot sleep and cannot breathe but two men start singing --- Garrison Keillor and David Letterman --- and it is a beautiful duet. And it goes the whole way, and I wake up hearing a musical phrase: CDE GG
And I am not congested.
And I “needed water.”
And I have a bad headache.
----------------------
In my dream I couldn’t sleep.
There was music, at first good, then loud for ¼ hour.
To dream of hearing harmonious music heralds pleasure and prosperity.
I was terribly congested.
To dream of having hay fever indicates that mental clarity is coming your way. To dream that you have consumption means that you are
exposing yourself to danger. Remain with your friends.
I adjusted the volume control
If you hear a strange noise in a dream, unfavorable news is presaged.
To dream of hearing someone over a loudspeaker lets you know that troubles will soon come your way.
And got up to find decongestant. I meet Ray leaving the bedroom. “Needed water,” he said.
If you see others thirsty and drinking to slake their thirst, you will enjoy many favors at the hands of wealthy people.
I take out a contact lens with a crust of orange, drop it on the floor but see it land and place both lenses, with orange crusts, carefully in a spot on a high shelf.
To lose a contact lens in your dream recommends that you open your eyes to deception. To remove lenses or put them in your eyes means you
will see problems at work or in a relationship more clearly.
To see the color orange indicates expansion of spiritual pursuits, personal nourishment, and happy times.
To dream of a shelf, or something on a shelf, implies an unexpected delay in your plans.
Back in bed I cannot sleep and cannot breathe but two men start singing --- Garrison Keillor and David Letterman --- and it is a beautiful duet.
To hear singing in your dreams betokens a cheerful spirit and happy companions. You are soon to hear promising news from the absent.
To hear a duet sung augurs unpleasant tidings; but this will not last, as some new pleasure will displace the unpleasantness.
And it goes the whole way, and I wake up hearing a musical phrase: CDE GG
And I am not congested.
And I “needed water.”
And I have a bad headache.
Ray had a dream about being chased.
To dream of being chased suggests a comfortable life with new friends and family.
He had played a joke on Charlotte.
To dream of telling a funny joke implies good business success in the future.
He threw into Charlotte’s room a large swordfish wrapped in a serape that had cactus needles sticking out.
To dream of cactus implies smooth sailing in your love affairs.
2/20/2013 (Becky, from journal notes)
I dreamed I was in a car with Sandy during “horrible black storms.”
To see and hear a storm approaching foretells continued sickness, unfavorable business, and separation from friends, which will cause distress.
There was a sexual episode in some woman’s gorgeous house; her business (Ruby) is there.
To dream of a ruby means that you will be lucky in business or love.
I was to give a presentation at a hotel.
To dream of giving a speech means improved social status.
I wandered around the city and, arriving late, I found out the electricity was off and the event was cancelled.
To dream of traveling signifies profit and pleasure combined. To dream that you go on a journey signifies profit or disappointment,
depending on whether the travels are pleasing and successful or whether accidents and disagreeable events intrude.
To dream of electricity implies that there will be sudden changes about you that will not afford you either advancement or pleasure.
To dream of darkness overtaking you on a journey augurs ill for any work you may attempt.
To dream of experiencing an electrical blackout suggests you use your five senses to solve problems in your life.
To cancel or have something canceled in a dream is a warning to be careful in your love life.
Expense money for travel wasn’t paid to two presenters who didn’t arrive.
To dream of being paid predicts an unexpected monetary gain.
AND THE BEST ONE... dream intact, followed by dream and interpretations
4/5/2013 3 A.M. (exact words from journal entry)
In my dream I couldn’t sleep.
There was music, at first good, then loud for ¼ hour. I am terribly congested. I adjust the volume control and get up to find a decongestant. I meet Ray leaving the bedroom. “Needed water,” he said.
I take out a contact lens with a crust of orange, drop it on the floor but see it land and place both lenses, with orange crusts, carefully in a spot on a high shelf.
Back in bed I cannot sleep and cannot breathe but two men start singing --- Garrison Keillor and David Letterman --- and it is a beautiful duet. And it goes the whole way, and I wake up hearing a musical phrase: CDE GG
And I am not congested.
And I “needed water.”
And I have a bad headache.
----------------------
In my dream I couldn’t sleep.
There was music, at first good, then loud for ¼ hour.
To dream of hearing harmonious music heralds pleasure and prosperity.
I was terribly congested.
To dream of having hay fever indicates that mental clarity is coming your way. To dream that you have consumption means that you are
exposing yourself to danger. Remain with your friends.
I adjusted the volume control
If you hear a strange noise in a dream, unfavorable news is presaged.
To dream of hearing someone over a loudspeaker lets you know that troubles will soon come your way.
And got up to find decongestant. I meet Ray leaving the bedroom. “Needed water,” he said.
If you see others thirsty and drinking to slake their thirst, you will enjoy many favors at the hands of wealthy people.
I take out a contact lens with a crust of orange, drop it on the floor but see it land and place both lenses, with orange crusts, carefully in a spot on a high shelf.
To lose a contact lens in your dream recommends that you open your eyes to deception. To remove lenses or put them in your eyes means you
will see problems at work or in a relationship more clearly.
To see the color orange indicates expansion of spiritual pursuits, personal nourishment, and happy times.
To dream of a shelf, or something on a shelf, implies an unexpected delay in your plans.
Back in bed I cannot sleep and cannot breathe but two men start singing --- Garrison Keillor and David Letterman --- and it is a beautiful duet.
To hear singing in your dreams betokens a cheerful spirit and happy companions. You are soon to hear promising news from the absent.
To hear a duet sung augurs unpleasant tidings; but this will not last, as some new pleasure will displace the unpleasantness.
And it goes the whole way, and I wake up hearing a musical phrase: CDE GG
And I am not congested.
And I “needed water.”
And I have a bad headache.
DADA projects
OBIT DUETS
Every week or so I scan the obituaries of the town I grew up in (Jackson, Mississippi) and the city where I've spent the past thirty years (El Paso, Texas). The differences in the names always impress me, reminding me of the differences between Here and There, Then and Now. Perhpas I will someday follow through on an idea to record these names in my voice, emphasizing the regional accents while illustrating geographical differences with color slides --- kudzu and desert, cockroaches and scorpions, etc.
THEN & THEREShameka Funchess
Beulah Galey – Black Hawk Zola Glaze – Pace Lindsey Ray Hughes – Pelahatchie Blonda Marie Chess Mack Clydine McClure - Schlater Florine McDougle – Union Walter Vernon “Bonehead” Ray Harper Sizemore – Pheba Bayard VanHecke Ora Sledge Balentine - Batesville Henrietta Barrentine – McCarley Rosie Etta Monk Benton – Crystal Springs Maxwell “Perk” Cannon Robert “Buddy” Ezell – Union Eugene Grube – Florence Ainsley Beulah Hughes Lula Bell Jones Vergie Leake – Woodville Rainer G. Lucky – Magee Minnie May – Pearl Tim “Peanut” McLemore – Morton Glyn A. Mott – Sturgis Sandra Muscat – Toomsuba Sheltron Ponder – Mount Olive Herley Ray Pounds, Jr. Mittie Skaggs – Pearl Maudie Varner – Pelahatchie |
HERE & NOWNicanor Aguilar
Enrique Amor Loreto Araujo Perfecto Chavez Rosetta Cruger Teitsworth Dalitso Dibble Genoveva Glover Bernardo Ortiz Zuniga Fernando Magallan Espadilla Jesusita Pacheco Raymundo Pastran Ricardo Apodaca Guadalupe Aranda Yolanda Bayona Polo Corral Dora Delarosa Josefina Dueñas Toudouze Fogel Maclovio Garnica Mary Occhiuzzo Otilia Olivas Ascencios Peña Haskell Pickens Yvonne Soforo-Correa William Squires Shirley Stackhouse Salvador Valverde Zulema Vasquez Evangelina Velasquez |