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 [...]
Most rational people believe in evolution. Some rarer few believe in spontaneous combustion. Only the surrealist believes in the cheerful combination of both. This entails a certain concession to circumstances, to wit: you can’t please all of the complexes all of the time, but you can mitigate some irritants by regularly trepanning your alter ego. [...]
Reports of nocturnal encounters with little furry cultural agents are increasing, typically in neighbourhood parking lots, back alleys and dumpsters. The animals in question may look cute and try to solicit sponsorships. “In fact,” says local art critic and rabies connoisseur Dr. Hackenbush, “they have a special secretory gland that emits a noxious miasma, that [...]
SECRETS & JOURNEYS: Aspects of surrealist organising and integrity By Mattias Forshage Available for order here Aspects of surrealist organising and integrity. Four essays from winter 2020-2021 by Mattias Forshage. Including: * No secrets of a walk across the bog * A league of departure; Basis of surrealism, phylogenetically and ontogenetically * The concept of [...]
Bibliografía General del Surrealismo en Castellano; Surrealistas y preursores; Recepción en Europa y América Latina (General Bibliography of Surrealism in Spanish; Surrealists and precursors; reception in Europe and Latin America) By Juan Carlos Otaño Seriemusidora, Argentina: 2021. Contact: jcotano@archivosurrealista.com for any inquiries Of note, a major new reference work on surrealist and pre-surrealist texts in [...]
Of note, an upcoming collection of poems by Joël Gayraud from Pierre Mainard editions, based on encounters with sculptures in the studio of the surrealist sculptor Virginia Tentindo. In (a translation) of the author’s own words: "When I first entered Virginia Tentindo's studio, it was like stepping through the looking glass. There, under a canopy [...]
News on the horizon of a new book of stories from S.D. Chrostowska that are bound to be of interest to marvel hunters everywhere as well as anyone who enjoyed her previous oneirico-utopian novel The Eyelid or her book of incendiary fragments. Here is the intriguing description from the publisher's page: A hunter of giant [...]
A translation of a recent dedication by Joël Gayraud for Michel Zimbacca. The original french text follows below. For Michel Zimbacca In reply to the stifling question from the teacher: “Well kids! What do you want to be when you grow up?” one raises his hand and says: “Hairdresser!”, “Pilot”, “Lawyer!” “Firefighter!”... Only a single [...]
Open letter to academic students of surrealism By Mattias Forshage 1. We share a passion. But we are on different sides of a fence. We started off with some kind of negotiating back in ’66 in Cerisy under the recognition that we represented very different approaches to the same topic but possibly should be able [...]
