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Surrealist Workshop 1

Usagi's picture
Submitted by Usagi on Thu, 08/09/2012 - 2:40pm

Surrealism is nonsense-writing, a form of art that abandons logic for the senseless, seeking to unlock the creativity of the unconcious mind. The surrealist movement began in Paris in the 1920s as an extension of the Dadaist's rejection of logic and order. Surrealism grew from automatic writing -- stream-of-conciousness -- into the juxtaposition "inside the same frame, elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects." "The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be -- the greater its emotional power and poetic reality."

During the next few days, I'll be posting surrealist games and exercises. Some work when you're writing on your own, like automatic writing; others are social and born of collaboration, like surrealist Q&A.

 

QUESTION&ANSWER

Click on the COLLABORATE tab at the top of the page and ask it a question-- any question. Post. Give it an answer, not necessarily to your question. Repeat until you run out of questions. Answer other people's questions, sensically or non. I'll use a random number generator to rearrange questions and answers into unintended configurations, and post them to see what wisdom we can glean.

Questions asked by past surrealists:

  • What is a fire that smoulders?
  • What is the number 27?
  • Is there a way of building in trails of the unexpected?
  • What has been the most important encounter of your life?
  • How will your session take into account the widest range of participants?
  • What is a path through the imagination?
  • Are you a fox or a hedgehog?
  • What hope do you put in love?

 

ALTERNATIVE Q&A:

Answer the following questions about asparagus:

  • Is it diurnal or nocturnal?
  • What illness does it call to mind?
  • In what city does it live?
  • Is it happy or unhappy?
  • What might its profession be?
  • Is it capable of metamorphosis?
  • How does it get around?
  • With what historical figure can it be associated?
  • How would you kill it?
  • What scent goes with it?
  • Is it favourable to love?
  • What is its favourite song?

(from http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/surrealist_games/)

 

  • 664 of 1973