A quiz program on the topic of surrealist exhibitions by Jason Abdelhadi
If, as Hegel says, “at night all cows are black”, imagine how much more complicated the matter gets when it comes to exhibitions, which may contain a multitude of such animals and then some.
Recently a certain “International Exhibition of Surrealism” seems to be promoting itself, using the power of string theory, in two places at the same time: Cairo, Egypt on the one hand, and Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France, on the other.
The question on everyone’s lips: is it, or ain’t it?
Well, we all know that in these troubled times when it comes to hitchhiking you can’t be too careful! In fact it’s very possible to use the word surrealism in place of all sorts of other things. Some people use it to mean “art”, or sometimes “art-like sugarfree substitute”; occasionally folks use it for novelty baking, coal heaving, or glue-based paper crafts. You’d be surprised what people can do with cardboard and a little paint these days. It’s almost as if one needs to duck the word and be able to read between the lines a little to get any sense of what’s going on. But believing as one does in the powers of self-reliance, maybe a little self-assessment guide would be the best method to help people come to their own conclusions:
LEADING QUESTIONS FOR ORGANIZERS, PARTICIPANTS AND CATERERS OF SURREALIST EVENTS
Does your revolutionary-type event explicitly rely on collaborating with state actors? Does it make use of officially-saturated places or monuments of national distinction? Does it delve into state funds?
Are you bound to provide reciprocal promotion for state or commercial institutions, in exchange for anything? (Hint: is there a lot of “official branding”?)
Do any of your partners actively and publicly promote and dote on state officials? Contrariwise, does anyone dare raise a single note of actual defiance against the state, or national institutions, religions? Or failing that, the roadwork, even? Cafeteria food quality? Anything?
If, in conceding to use “the master’s own tools against himself, mwa ha ha!”, how exactly are you doing that? Having made a deal with them, how do you know you have the upper hand? And in approaching surrealists about this dastardly bit of subversion, were you open and forthright about these relations, or did you try at every opportunity to hush it up, and only address it after being questioned?
If you think surrealism can get by with obedience and official collaboration with cultural or government institutions, how far are you willing to go with that logic? Could you for example conceive of an official governmental Ministry or Department for Surrealism? Would it be possible for you yourself to act in such a way?
HISTORY POP QUIZ: Do the historical concessions or compromises of past surrealists give you free reign to commit those same errors, and/or absolve you of any guilt?
On the other hand, is there any reason that your event couldn’t have been an independent, or even underground event?
Who are you trying to impress? (Hint: Be honest!)
ART QUESTION: Does it matter to you what art historians or museum curators think about surrealism? Or what they think about you in particular?
Bracketing certain all-too unreliable keywords, is your event at all discernible from a regular artistic exhibition? And does that even concern you?
Is it possible to use the terms “revolutionary” or “revolt” in a generic way, so as to be bereft of all content?
Is the presence of the word “surrealism” sufficient to ensure the revolutionary credentials of an event?
Does your event challenge or subvert any institution?
Does your event bring any new ideas to surrealism?
Does your event attempt to accurately represent surrealism, or are you just kind of winging it? Does your event feel external pressure to self-censor certain aspects of surrealism to squeak by?
ZOOLOGICAL QUERY: how does showing a defanged, starved and caged animal on the brink of death compare with a sighting in the wild?
Does your event make use of dubious means, such as marketing companies, or corporate organizational structures? (Hint: do you have CEOs, Directors General, Co-Directors General, Masters of Ceremony, and Royal Jugglers on your org chart? Come to think of it, why do you have an org chart in the first place?)
Does your event make exaggerated claims about its own importance, or the degree to which other surrealist groups or individuals in the movement are participating in it?
Does your event bring you closer to, or further from, the “art market”?
Is the idea to make sales or get credit for your CV?
Are the participants in your event subject to any criteria beyond asking to join?
Are the participants being “exposed” in a similar format to what one sees in standard art circles? (Hint: curriculums vitae, endless lists of awards and prizes, goofy looking profile photos, individual life stories?)
Does the event emphasize collective exploration or is it a gallery of individuated artist-personae, or persona-like entities?
If you are a participant, what, if any criteria, did you use to decide whether to participate? (Be honest, was it enough to see the big shiny S-word to get you to hit submit?)
In the case where you are excited by the prospect of collaborating with participants in distant countries, do you think your enthusiasm could have a colonial or orientalist tinge? Do you turn a blind eye to certain things because of certain “exotic” enticements? Are you making condescending excuses for the laxity of others due to unspoken assumptions about their culture? (Hint: if you are ever tempted to say “they don’t understand because…” or if you treat them with different levels of criticality because of their location…)
Given any of the above concessions, were these made with any degree of reflection towards achieving poetic, revolutionary ends, or were they adopted for expediency and rationalized afterwards?
In your mind, are there any dangers in this world for participation, or is it fine to just jump in anywhere?
Given the above, what prospects does your event have for something really unexpected to occur?
In your view, is surrealism just part of the art world? Or just an awkward uncle?
Final question for all you motorists: was this trip really necessary?
If you answered “abwwwuhh!?” to any of the above questions, you may be a lot of things: a promoter, a prizefighter, a blue ribbon winning piece of hogflesh; you may even be eligible for a free all expenses paid vacation to a far off land. But maybe, until you’ve double checked the numbers, just don’t bring surrealism into it!
Your Quiz Master for This Evening’s Program
Jason Abdelhadi
November 2021
