Regarding Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto
Illusions, the subconscious,psychology, lucidity, dreams, madness, imagination, indulging in curiosity,memory, absence of restrictions– after reading Breton’s manifesto, these words ring in my mind as key words in describing surrealism. As Breton said in his manifesto: “Beloved imagination, what I love about you is your unsparing quality.” He also went as far as to call reality mediocre. I loved that. I know that one of my favorite things to do in life is dream. For while I am asleep I experience images that not even the most wondrous film could recreate. Breton spoke of breaking away from reality (aka the “reign of logic”)and playing with human sensibility, and surrendering to the quality of the dream, which lacks reality and any moral control or concern. I find the surrealist’s approach to seeing life as inspirational and still quite relevant in art today.
Stephanie Sorth
February 5th, 2008 at 9:29 am
The one thing that stuck out at me when reading Andre Breton’s “The Surrealist Manifesto,” was his idea that life is more than just the sum of its external manifestations and artistic tendencies such as realism and naturalism. That they were, in Breton’s view, not being realistic enough in that they largely ignored life’s other dimension-the inner realm of dreams and imagination. To think that dreams should be in the forefront of our reality is an interesting way of approaching the world around us. When I dream, my imagination runs wild, and I seem to have no control over my thoughts. By following our dreams, powered by our imagination, is something we should all strive to live for.
Aya
February 6th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I felt that document, “Manifesto of Surrealism” by Andre Breton, does not tell any clear definition of Surrealism. I’ve been trying hard to get what he indicates in the document through its long stories, but I couldn’t get what he really wanted tell us. I want to see the example of Surrealism art works visually. Things he argued was fairly understandable. Especially, I agree with that images, which getting from unconscious time such as dream while you are sleeping, give extraordinary creativity rather than getting in reality. Breton emphasised poetry, however, for me, visualized image from the time is stronger and impressionable.
lauren mackey
February 6th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
To me this manifesto was better than the previous two examples. It was a more interesting read for one, and two, well it made me understand some ideas behind surrealism more (I realize the other manifestos were Futurist documents, not exactly Surrealist). Sure the tenets of Surrealism can be applied to poetry or other writing works, but they can also be applied in any circumstance of life, and is not merely restricted to the artistic realm. The importance of the dream as a reservoir of Surrealist inspiration really shines through, and to agree with my classmate Stephanie, it is an “interesting way of approaching the world around us.”
magropp
February 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am
This is interesting. The surrealist manifesto brings up good points. Too often in our modern culture, people strive so hard to be “real,” that they forget to be interesting. Yes, I have always seen the importance of recognizing the beauty in the dull moment, I believe we must be able to do this to really see the world around us, but we must not get caught up in that moment. We must let our imaginations run wild, as I think Breton is calling for. As he speaks of the insane towards the beginning of the essay, he recognizes their total and complete trust in their imaginations, without even entertaining the idea that their dreams don’t extend beyond themselves. This confidence in imagination is the most important point that Breton makes, because only with confidence in our dreams and imaginations can we truly be creative beings and therefore artists. Breton speaks of the “reign of logic” as a negative force, but I believe imagination/dreams and logic can live side by side within each of us. We are rational beings with the ability to choose which would better serve us in each situation that we come across. This is just me rationalizing, because I adore logical thought, but it is true. The strongest artist can think both logically and extravagantly when needed.
Jennytam
February 11th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
reading the ’surrealist manifesto’ actually made me think a little about a previous post i’d written for futurism in that both would like to do away with restraints of one form or another (also brings to my mind the bit i wrote on a definition of freedom from the futurist post). in my feeling, the futurists wanted to do away with old conventions and notions where surrealism, according to Breton, would like to do away with personal control. this piece was easier to digest, and i found myself agreeing with him on a few points; namely that in the first few pages (or page) of a book sometimes cause the reader to become disinterested in it, and that there are some things that does not need to be included in the body of the work. (f.y.i.:my personal experience with such a case was a novel by scott o’dell called the amethyst ring. i usually like his work, but the first few pages of the book was not interesting to me…)
Elyse Mercedes
February 13th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I always have a hard time trying to cut through the fancy language. But over all i have always agreed with the manifestos of Dada and futurism and surrealism. And it all started with the horror of the war. We discussed this in my Dada and Surrealism class. How the artist and writers were effected during and after the war. And how they escaped in their dreams. They allowed to let themselves feel the emotions and express those feelings in their work. And i believe Breton has been able to express that in all of his works.
Cassandra Sechler
02-04-08
Regarding Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto
Illusions, the subconscious,psychology, lucidity, dreams, madness, imagination, indulging in curiosity,memory, absence of restrictions– after reading Breton’s manifesto, these words ring in my mind as key words in describing surrealism. As Breton said in his manifesto: “Beloved imagination, what I love about you is your unsparing quality.” He also went as far as to call reality mediocre. I loved that. I know that one of my favorite things to do in life is dream. For while I am asleep I experience images that not even the most wondrous film could recreate. Breton spoke of breaking away from reality (aka the “reign of logic”)and playing with human sensibility, and surrendering to the quality of the dream, which lacks reality and any moral control or concern. I find the surrealist’s approach to seeing life as inspirational and still quite relevant in art today.
The one thing that stuck out at me when reading Andre Breton’s “The Surrealist Manifesto,” was his idea that life is more than just the sum of its external manifestations and artistic tendencies such as realism and naturalism. That they were, in Breton’s view, not being realistic enough in that they largely ignored life’s other dimension-the inner realm of dreams and imagination. To think that dreams should be in the forefront of our reality is an interesting way of approaching the world around us. When I dream, my imagination runs wild, and I seem to have no control over my thoughts. By following our dreams, powered by our imagination, is something we should all strive to live for.
I felt that document, “Manifesto of Surrealism” by Andre Breton, does not tell any clear definition of Surrealism. I’ve been trying hard to get what he indicates in the document through its long stories, but I couldn’t get what he really wanted tell us. I want to see the example of Surrealism art works visually. Things he argued was fairly understandable. Especially, I agree with that images, which getting from unconscious time such as dream while you are sleeping, give extraordinary creativity rather than getting in reality. Breton emphasised poetry, however, for me, visualized image from the time is stronger and impressionable.
To me this manifesto was better than the previous two examples. It was a more interesting read for one, and two, well it made me understand some ideas behind surrealism more (I realize the other manifestos were Futurist documents, not exactly Surrealist). Sure the tenets of Surrealism can be applied to poetry or other writing works, but they can also be applied in any circumstance of life, and is not merely restricted to the artistic realm. The importance of the dream as a reservoir of Surrealist inspiration really shines through, and to agree with my classmate Stephanie, it is an “interesting way of approaching the world around us.”
This is interesting. The surrealist manifesto brings up good points. Too often in our modern culture, people strive so hard to be “real,” that they forget to be interesting. Yes, I have always seen the importance of recognizing the beauty in the dull moment, I believe we must be able to do this to really see the world around us, but we must not get caught up in that moment. We must let our imaginations run wild, as I think Breton is calling for. As he speaks of the insane towards the beginning of the essay, he recognizes their total and complete trust in their imaginations, without even entertaining the idea that their dreams don’t extend beyond themselves. This confidence in imagination is the most important point that Breton makes, because only with confidence in our dreams and imaginations can we truly be creative beings and therefore artists. Breton speaks of the “reign of logic” as a negative force, but I believe imagination/dreams and logic can live side by side within each of us. We are rational beings with the ability to choose which would better serve us in each situation that we come across. This is just me rationalizing, because I adore logical thought, but it is true. The strongest artist can think both logically and extravagantly when needed.
reading the ’surrealist manifesto’ actually made me think a little about a previous post i’d written for futurism in that both would like to do away with restraints of one form or another (also brings to my mind the bit i wrote on a definition of freedom from the futurist post). in my feeling, the futurists wanted to do away with old conventions and notions where surrealism, according to Breton, would like to do away with personal control. this piece was easier to digest, and i found myself agreeing with him on a few points; namely that in the first few pages (or page) of a book sometimes cause the reader to become disinterested in it, and that there are some things that does not need to be included in the body of the work. (f.y.i.:my personal experience with such a case was a novel by scott o’dell called the amethyst ring. i usually like his work, but the first few pages of the book was not interesting to me…)
I always have a hard time trying to cut through the fancy language. But over all i have always agreed with the manifestos of Dada and futurism and surrealism. And it all started with the horror of the war. We discussed this in my Dada and Surrealism class. How the artist and writers were effected during and after the war. And how they escaped in their dreams. They allowed to let themselves feel the emotions and express those feelings in their work. And i believe Breton has been able to express that in all of his works.