after many years of travel, i have found myself still sitting at my own
kitchen table.
it is only recently that i revisited the principles of Surrealism,
re-reading the Manifesto, and found its various strands weaving back to
a familiar tangle. the crucial focal points: a foundation in the
depths of the unconscious and subconscious, and a knowledge of that
material's importance based in direct experience... a recognition of
the many ways in which our societies suppress, and then habituate us to
suppress for them, our own connection to those sources... the
revolutionary impact which a widespread reconnection with them would
have.
these things seem as relevant now, recurrently relevant, as they were
then.
Breton:
"There is no such thing as 'neo-surrealism.' Anything that presents
itself as such or, these days, sports the label 'revolutionary
Surrealism' is a counterfeit enterprise and must be denounced as an
inposture. And for good reason: from the sole fact that Surrealism, at
the outset, claimed to be the codification of a state of mind that has
manifested itself sporadically in every age and in every country, one
cannot ascribe an end to it any more than one can pinpoint its
beginning. Goya was ALREADY a Surrealist, as was Dante, or Uccello, or
pathes toward a greater emancipation of the mind will be Surrealist."
(Correo Literario, MAdrid, September 1950)
and so, i decided this was at least one place i should dip my toe, to
see how the water was.
as personal policy, i will strive to stick very close to material
gleaned directly from the unconscious, rather than simply spit out
wacky stuff i made up. for the most part i will use C.J. Jung's method
of Active Imagination for this material, since the level of detail
recall for me is much higher than when i try to glean directly from
dream; and since it comes closer to the creative techniques of
historical Surrealism. i can safely say that i myself am far more of a
Jungian Surrealist than a Freudian one, though, :) so a great majority
of my material will seek depths of that flavor.
as farewell, a fragment noticed in the mind upon waking [by an absent
friend]:
in your eyes, indirectly, i can throw stones.
- aqaraza
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