SURREALISM: Exploring your dreams and fantasies is a
powerful ground from creating visual art. It can be a safe ground for
self-exploration and often leads to artwork that is more expressive and
authentic than artworks that result from a more direct confrontation of “reality”.
You will conduct research and a collection of your dreams and fantasies for one
week to generate ideas. During this time we will discuss and look at the work
for Surrealist in class.
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT: WEEK JANUARY 9-12
Using the Internet and books, research the mentors listed
below. Write down facts about the artist and their techniques. Include examples
of your favorite work. Be sure to include the artist, title, and techniques for
each image. Keep a diary of your
dreams and fantasies. Record each morning any dreams you had the night before.
Do this for one whole week.
ASSIGMENT: Shoot 1
roll of 24 exposures. Shots 1-10 will be based on the mentors or mentors you
select. You are trying to replicate their ideas. Do not simply take one
photograph to try to copy the image. Take several shots anywhere form 3-10
depending on the image you select. Shoot until you feel you “captured it”. Shots 11-24 will be based on your own
personal dreams as inspiration. You final photograph must not only represent
your dream but MUST: effectively express a feeling or technique used by your
chosen mentor.
MENTORS TO EXPLORE:
Hans Bellmer, Luis Bunuel, Georgio de Chirico, Joseph
Cornell, Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Raoul Hausmann, John
Heartfield, Hannah Hoch, Rene Magritte, May Ray, Joan Miro, Meret Oppenheim,
Francis Picaba, Kurt Schwitters.
SURREALIST PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jerry Uelsmann, Edmund Teske,
Erwin Blumenfield, Duane Michaels, Frederick Sommer, Robert Mann, Clarence John
Laughlin, Man Ray.
SOME TECHNIQUES TO THINK ABOUT: Sandwhich negatives, Photomontage, Double Exposure,
Photograms, Solarization, Contact Printing
