my script and other information for my mini workshop on surrealist automatism:
other notes from the presentations:
surrealism: a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
Before he became the initiator of the surrealist movement, André Breton (1896-1966) studied medicine and worked as a student in several hospitals and as a stretcher bearer at the front during World War I. There he became interested in psychiatric diseases such as hysteria and psychosis, which later served as a source of inspiration for his surrealist writings and thoughts, in particular on automatic writing.
In the field of psychology, the subconscious refers to that part of consciousness that we are unaware of. It is information that we are not actively aware of in the moment, but that can influence us nonetheless, such as things that are heard, seen or remembered. The unconscious mind, on the other hand, is a term coined by Freud to refer to a part of the mind that cannot be known by the conscious mind, and includes socially unacceptable ideas, wishes and desires, traumatic memories and painful emotions that have been repressed.
Bellmer’s fetishistic Doll sculptures were partly inspired by Jacques Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann, in which the hero falls in love with a mechanical doll. Photographs of the doll were published in 1934 in the surrealist journal Minotaure. With their explorations of voyeurism and sadism, the photographs soon became as important as the sculpture itself.
Gordon Bottomley was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. The two men where brought together in 1910 by Nash’s love of poetry and Bottomley’s extensive knowledge of painting. Bottomley encouraged the young artist and in exchange Nash made several designs for Bottomley’s plays that he exhibited or used as illustrations.
Let’s start off with a quick drawing exercise - just a no-boundary, free, no right-or-wrong, type of exercise. I want you to draw to your hearts content. Don’t think about it, let go of all control. Like a doodle. Write words if you feel like it. Just Try not to stop drawing in the two minutes I’m giving you. Let it be a continuous flow. Have fun with it and follow your previous line to go into your next. Ok, ready?
How was that? did it feel good? It’s quite a fun thing to do, isn’t it? Letting go of your control and your conscious decisions. It seems simple, but it is actually a very complex concept that sits right in the realm of Surrealism, and in particular, Surrealist automatism. Automatism is actually a term borrowed from physiology, it describes bodily movements that are not consciously controlled. For example, - breathing, sleepwalking. Automatic drawing/writing or free association can actually be quite useful - Sigmund Freud, the psychoanalyst, used this method to explore the unconscious minds of his patients. André Breton, known best as the co-founder and theorist of Surrealism also used Freud’s methods on soldiers while serving at a neurological hospital. Breton also believed that the barrier between the conscious and unconscious could be broken down in this way, leading to a new reality, the surreality.
This drawing here, by Hans Bellmer in 1942, draws heavily on the Surrealist tradition of automatism. And while this drawing is not fully automatic, the uncontrolled marks and ink blots give a free rein to the subconscious. You can see how there are many subtle suggestions of form - whether it be an eye, leg, nipple, different points of entry. The curving, sinuous lines offer interpretations of limbs and the female body, but it is left purposely ambiguous for the viewer to take in. This particular form of layered delicacy that is left so open for the viewer could only be achieved from the combination of conscious decisions and the wash of the subconscious weaved into it. Bellmer was actually best known for his life-sized pubescent female dolls in the mid-1930s, so it is very fascinating to see how his drawings correlate to those ideas.
Letting go of that traditional control and precision is something that Paul Nash here, also did. This drawing, titled ‘The Wanderer’, was drawn in 1911 in watercolour, blue chalk, and graphite. He actually struggled with the traditional aspects of his artistic training, despite having a ‘great desire to draw’. He’d written, in a letter to Bottomley, ‘I find painful difficulties in drawing from the model! I know what I want to express - all that I can see beautiful of line and expression, and away goes the correctness - the true proportion!’ He also said, ‘It was always the Inner life of the subject rather than its characteristic lineaments which appealed to me,’ so, you can see clearly that he has let go of those traditional boundaries put upon artists in those days. From then on, he spent his career depicting his particular perception of nature. And that is quite profound - when you let go of some of those boundaries of reality as a source of image making, you begin to draw from the only other place you have access to - yourself. As a result, what you get is something that could be seen as a reflection of yourself, something that is usually quite emotionally charged.
Apart from the artistic process of letting your subconscious to partly take control, the two artists both used rather soft line work, in Bellmer’s drawing, there’s almost no visible brushstroke, everything flows from one shape to another, creating a surreal image. Nash’s drawing is very recognizable as a field, but the surreality comes across in the softness of the trees, the flow of the grass, the ambiguity of the figure, you get a sense that most of this could be imagined.
Speaking of the imaginary, Pieter Bruegel’s drawing here is certainly something of fantasy. In contrast to these two drawings however, there is no softness to his line work at all. Everything is very precise and drawn with a purpose. Drawn in 1556, this was a study to be made into a print. So immediately, there is a purpose to the drawing, perhaps a commercial one. Also, because this print would be an allegory for Avarice, or Greed (for wealth or material gain), every little detail in this composition is a clever decision that will drive towards this central meaning. You could describe this study as realistic representation of something unreal that uses its line work with a type of certainty that the other two drawings don’t necessarily have. Bellmer seems to have something that looks unreal, but feels very real, whereas Bruegel has something that looks real, but is unreal. Nash’s drawing seems to sit somewhere in between - a combination of something he’s been immersed in, and something born out of himself.
All three drawings have a certain confidence that engages the audience and are successful in various ways, from letting your subconscious take over, to slowly letting go of traditional boundaries and trusting yourself or your perception of things more, to teasing out imagery from your imagination. It’s important to note that the un or subconscious is a central part of who you are as an artist, what sets you apart from others. The more someone understands their subconscious, the closer they are to reaching their ‘personal freedom’, and in turn, be liberated from traditional means of ‘accurately’ representing reality.
Overall, what I’m trying to say is, there’s no harm in letting go of the ideal of accurately representing the image sometimes. perhaps trusting your automatic instincts more. You’ll definitely end up with something refreshing.
other notes from the presentations:
what the drawing exercise will do in your presentation.
lose focus. engage audience. printing out quotes. reference later. always bring image,
taking one element of drawing using this kind of line. haze. print out titles. play with line.
engaging structures.
vilterrano, very quick mark making, red chalk. not a lot of info about it. pentimento / regret and change afterwards. thinking.
seem polished and determined but when you look up close, lines that were there before. even though the technique is still different from quick mark making.
self portrait ,, portrait of myself when I’m young. rafael, in relation to time bc narrative instead of technique. more conceptual connection to time.
15, 16 century.
ask questions and give time and be comfortable , 10-15 seconds. standing and waiting. people don’t respond well to centuries, 1600s instead of 16th century, definite mark making (line quality). don’t feel you can’t use notes. do run throughs comfortable in timing. cannot take things personally. be yourself. most people are excited to learn.
German expressionists. Otto Dix known for anti war stance, but after ww1 spent a lot of time in countryside
naked woman, death cling to her, child clinging to her. Not too much identity. socially engaged activist. would have been a finished print.
Define things like silver point. (animal bone) etching. woodcut. Like to see what you’re interested in as an artist, maybe bring in sample to compare. wanna hear your perspective. why you chose them. asking what people saw. access issues eg disabilities, hard of hearing. visually impaired. get energy of group, who needs what.
gordon Morton. Contemporary, perspective shifting, capture intimate moment, playfulness around the page.
George baselitz. after world war finished, physical destruction, theme. broken liner, very short, sparratic. merged into one. Neo expressionist, presents upside down.
was most interested in. Dutch artist, silversmith by trade. Called embrace. two faces merged into one. overall body. lines really delicate.
Layering drawings. exercise, middle thing? could feel daunting. framing focus before we start. eg line or figure, focuses on linear quality. something people won’t do is draw all three. specific frame before u start.
1700s, very dramatic, theatrical. how he created a narrative, beginning middle and end. background middle ground foreground. indicates depth in the drawing, on paper. middle ground the clouds. line quality, descriptive. overall the focus on two people. building through layers, into a narrative.
unknown artist- Flemish drawing, structured pictorial. characteristics. few techniques that also create the narrative. Rule of thirds. three sections. another way of drawing more interesting. softer background.
maybe kollwitz. another way of layering and creating narrative. background uses dark shadows. gradually becomes lighter
different meanings into it- cross hatching quite heavy - link to death. child much lighter -
literally pointing at the drawing. important to have your personal vision, so not same info every time. talk about yourself more, why I chose the works, as an artist.
how they frame, cropping of figure.
Walter sickert drawing, isn’t really anchored in space. slightly on upper side, unsteady arm.
Henry Moore drawing. more scene in background. consider where they haven’t filled the page. where u put figures in the page.
need to know you’re the authority. what you see is valid. not over interpreting. Don’t need to know artist intention, can gather meaning by looking. makes more subjective. more you give entrances to criticise u they will. as young woman. not be arrogant. provide information that is quality. you are the authority. don’t second guess yourself . if there is an area you’re weak in. Eg artist biography. If someone asks, say the workshop isn’t about this. It’s fine to say ‘I don’t know’ start to stumble and lie, lose control. Work from knowledge, I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s some research on that. your readings of the art are valid.
whatever you think your conclusion should be would be your introduction. the conclusion will come after research. leave something unseen and talk about as a group and show what they’ve gained.
clarifying points, description of drawings. observe drawings, to general public you have to narrow the field.
ask someone to do exercise: teach themselves - for them to do, should explain to yourself what they’re going to gain. has to marry with your theme. reasoning behind an exercise. what it’s going to achieve.
clarifying what your theme is. introduce. asking to draw something emotional. some people cannot express in drawing. lines - maybe ask them to draw straight instead of curved lines, to see why those lines were chosen like this.
flaws - drawing of figure. one type of line or many types of lines. how imperfect.
georg bafelitz. neo expressionist. born end of war, urgency in his life. tortured line. forces him to deconstruct body. nothing completely correct. Grayson Perry , ‘ flaws are the style of the drawing’ automatic drawing mistakes. Rodin- wouldn’t even look at paper at all when draiwng. without planning ahead. Flaws don’t need to be erased, can be added to the drawing.
maybe bring in a drawing that people would consider academic or accurate. how interesting these drawings are even though they are not accurate. purpose of drawing. exploring and expressing rather than replicating. not that academic drawing is necessarily replicating.
architecture in conflict with human psychology. architecture be narrative as well.
Henry Moore sculpture. three figures. disorientation. watercolour and wax, carving composition, violent effect of destruction. black thin lines representing architectural elements. how much architecture around him can effect him. drawing is a way of thinking.
eg. exercise, think of space you know really well. Personal.
remembering why you chose those works - I chose this work because.... (less implied, more explicit that you chose them).
give a taste of timing and haven’t seen the works in person.
next steps.
can actually do yourself. in galleries like in eventbrite. use your knowledge.
