| Philosophy and Principles | Purpose | Personality |
| I believe that the world is too constricted by societies rules and regulations
I would say I am a Christian because I mostly believe in the Bible and I do believe in a God but I am more of a spiritual person and I believe in doing things that make you happy. I feel like religions are too strict and are made to hold society together and for the world to conform and so that there is order and less havoc
I value things that make me happy
I believe that dreams convey a lot of hidden information and express many things we choose to ignore and not care to understand. I love dreams, I am a dreamer and I often think in more figurative ways and I enjoy learning about the unconscious state of mind.
I think most people fear their dreams because they cannot control it; most of us don’t usually remember our dreams… I for one often forget even if I wake up in the middle in the night consciously thinking of what I was dreaming but then later when I wake up again I have forgotten it because it is usually that surreal and usually does not make sense… then we generally forget about it and move on with our lives… I think this is where Déjà vu comes from. |
My role I feel in life is to create, explore, innovate, learn and live my life to the fullest doing what I enjoy and what makes me happy. I want to use my strengths to my advantage because I am a person who would rather build my strengths in life rather than worry too much about my weaknesses unless it is a weakness that negatively affects me or others around me then I would make a point of trying to improve it. | Firstly, I would like to say that I am grateful for what and who I am and what I have become and where my life is leading, I am excited for my journey ahead and so far I am happy with the choices I have made in my life. I am very grateful for my parents, special teachers in all the years and friends that have helped me through all my questions, doubts and decisions. Having this makes me want to strive for success in order to make them proud and pay them back one day in the future to thank them for helping to build me up.
I have a strong mind set on what I want to achieve in my career where I want to become successful in Graphic design, travelling, staying fit and healthy, creative living and thinking, and I am in the progress of creating a future modelling career.
My general style at the moment is comfortable yet unique
I am confident and I have a positive attitude and energy towards life which I feel is the main factor in what I am achieving
I have a tendency to overthink things in my life but sometimes I take decisions quickly as well as I enjoy living on the edge and doing interesting things to challenge myself as well as to see the beauty in life… a few examples of this would be the warrior race, deep sea diving, and learn how to surf.
I am interested in dreams because I feel like there is a lot of hidden knowledge in the world that nobody knows about and how our existence came about, I feel that dreams can tap into secrets of the unknown subconscious world that we will only see once we leave this earth |
Krystal’s Surrealism Manifesto
Firstly, before I even start discussing my manifesto, I would like to say that I am grateful for what and who I am and what I have become and where my life is leading, I am excited for my journey ahead and so far I am happy with the choices I have made in my life. I am very grateful for my parents, special teachers in all the years and friends that have helped me through all my questions, doubts and decisions. Having this makes me want to strive for success in order to make them proud and pay them back one day in the future to thank them for helping to build me up.
The main goal of Surrealism: ‘to free one’s mind from the past and from everyday reality to arrive at truths one has never known’ (eNotes, 2016). This goal contributes to my goals in that I want to live my life freely, doing what I enjoy and not what society tells me to be. I want to be different and live differently by not only following one career path, but many, and constantly learn and improve myself as well as contribute to society. I would one day like to inspire and help others achieve big because that is what I am dedicated to do.
“The subconscious is where our deepest desires are lurking.” The artists embraced these idiosyncrasies and that this is where true reality was, and this is what they tried to depict on their canvases (Moma.org, 2016).
This is a cultural movement and is pictured as something we don’t usually see in real life. Andre Breton wrote this manifesto that has inspired me to think his way. He became interested in the theories of Sigmund Freud as he found his idea useful in healing the wounded, as Breton was an ambulance driver during the war. Eventually, Breton and his literary and artistic colleagues contributed to the acceptance in France of Freud and his theories of psychoanalysis, even though Freud’s written work itself would not be translated into French until the late 1930s (Moma.org, 2016).
The three main traits that I would say describe me would be artistically creative and innovative, intellectual and literal. These three characteristics that form me are in fact the three terms that creates the basis of the Surrealism manifesto, an artistic, intellectual and literary movement led by poet Andre Breton from 1924 through World War 2 (Moma.org, 2016).
The Surrealists main aim was to overthrow the oppressive rules of modern society by demolishing its backbone of rational thought(Moma.org, 2016) and this, I say, is what has contributed to design history in exploring the mind and imagination in ways never done before. Rational thought to me might be the safer way to think but it isn’t always necessarily the right way. For example parents always tell their children to ‘think rationally when making your decision’ but I think this concept confines us and restricts us from exploring the unknown. How will one truly know what they are capable of if they always have to think based on the methods that tend to work, only when exploring other alternatives will one learn where their true limits are? Surrealistic people tend to ‘tap into the superior reality’ of the subconscious mind. I believe that dreams convey a lot of hidden information and express many things we choose to ignore and not care to understand. Surrealism also manipulates the mind to think in a specific and conceptual way that is not entirely understood by man, as it is not what is seen in reality. I love dreams, I am a dreamer and I often think in more figurative ways and I enjoy learning about the unconscious state of mind.
I think most people fear their dreams because they cannot control it; most of us don’t usually remember our dreams… I for one often forget even if I wake up in the middle in the night consciously thinking of what I was dreaming but then later when I wake up again I have forgotten it because it is usually that surreal and usually do not make sense… then we generally forget about it and move on with our lives… I think this is where Déjà vu comes from. Bretons quote: “completely against the tide, in a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that result from centuries of rationalism, we turned towards the marvellous and advocated it unconditionally.”
Many principles of surrealism such as automatism; which is the performance of actions without conscious thought or intention, experimental uses of language and found objects has been present in some degree in the Dada movement that preceded it. These principles describe me because even though I have a tendency to overthink things in my life, I sometimes take decisions too quickly (performing actions without conscious thought or intention about all the consequences) it is just how I feel at that specific time, as well as I enjoy living on the edge and doing interesting things to challenge myself as well as to see the beauty in life… a few examples of this would be doing things such as the warrior race, deep sea diving, and learn how to surf. However, surrealists systematized these strategies within the framework of psychologist Sigmund Freud’s theories on dreams and the subconscious state of mind in his 1924 Manifesto, Breton defined Surrealism as “Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express… the actual functioning of thought… in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern (Moma.org, 2016).
I personally think that life is too short to confine ourselves by walls and live it entirely by following the rules and behaving in a specific way just to make us all an equal unit that can be controlled by a government or religion. I do believe in a God and I am generally a good person but I do not entirely believe in following the strict code religion bounds us by and I am more of a spiritual person and I believe in doing things that make you happy. I feel like religions are too strict and are made to hold society together and for the world to conform and so that there is order and less havoc. We are taught from a young age how to talk, think and act but I think we all subconsciously live a deeper, unknown life within ourselves.
The surrealist circle was relatively cohesive, but the individuals within it hailed from a variety of nations, and their artistic approaches were similarly diverse. They believed that automatic drawings unlocked the contents of the subconscious mind, while hyper real landscape paintings conjured the uncanny imagery of dreams (Moma.org, 2016).
I value things that make me happy and I am inspired by new ideas, fashion photography, fitness as well as my dreams and goals which are constantly in my mind when I work towards something so I can focus on what I want to become, and I only enjoy doing things that promote growth either in my life or other people’s lives, I get bored of the same routines and repetitions as well as following rules and being confined. Because I am creative it inspires me to come up with ideas reasonably quickly with regards to my past experiences whether literally in real life or figuratively in my unconscious state of mind from dreams and exploring with my eyes and mind. I feel like society must stop controlling our thoughts as we need to explore more of the unknown with regards to our subconscious thoughts.
Freud had ideas about the meaning and significance of dreams which he called “psychopathology of everyday life” where apparently inadvertent slips of the tongue and other behavioral “mistakes” that can be traced to states of the subconscious mind. Freud’s theory interested Breton largely because they refer to a subconscious life that, Breton believed, constitutes a resource rich in visual and intellectual stimulation (Moma.org, 2016).
Successful poets have broken down the barriers of reason and tradition and have achieved ways of seeing, understanding, and creating that what resembles free, spontaneous, imaginative play of children (Moma.org, 2016). I personally think a child as a beautiful spirit, and growing up as adults we tend to lose that when we conform to the world, I for one am a free spirit that sometimes enjoys returning to the freedom of childhood with no worries. As one grows up, their imagination is dulled by the need to make a living and concerning about practical matters.
If the “insane” are victims of their imaginations, one can learn from the mentally ill that hallucinations and illusions are often sources of considerable pleasure and activity but society tends to reject these people, naming them “insane/ mentally ill” just because they think differently and not rationally (eNotes, 2016).
Breton believes that Freud has shown that dreams must be respected as coherent sources of truth and of practical assistance in life. This may be reality interfering with dreams rather than the reverse, hence, Breton recommends that one give oneself up to one’s dreams, allowing oneself to be satisfied by what is received from the dream instead of applying the criteria to reason of dreams (eNotes, 2016). We all want the reasons for dreams we have, I feel we should accept our dreams and not control them, rather take what your dreams tell you more creatively than finding assumed meanings.
Breton’s analysis takes on the language of religious fervour when he insists that if one reconciles dreams and reality, one will attain an ABSOLUTE REALITY: SURREALITY (eNotes, 2016).
| Style/Movement | Suggestions | Own Keywords researched |
| Victorian | Industrial, Sentimental,
Innocent/Cute,
|
Decorated, wooden, stylised, prudish, high moral tone |
| Steampunk | Gothic
|
Science fiction, fantasy, steam-powered, machinery |
| Japanese | Ukiyo-e, Manga, Kawaii
|
Cute, asymmetrical, simplicity, bamboo |
| Arts and Crafts Pattern | Eco-friendly,
handmade, organic |
Decorative, easy, no formal education needed |
| Art Nouveau/Art
Deco
|
Romantic, Stylised,
Nature, Feminine, Dynamic, Technology
|
Flowery, flowing, natural, free |
| Expressionism | Human drama, emotions,
activism, colour, expression
|
Inner experience, distortions, highly personal visions |
| Futurism | Multi-media, Simultaneity,
urban, modern, aggressive
|
Trendy, moving forward, future, energetic and dynamic, modern technology based |
| Dada | Rebellious, critical, crazy
conceptual, humourous, |
Irrationality, incongruity, and irreverence towards accepted aesthetic criteria, one’s father |
| Surrealism | Fantasy, dreams, erotic,
Strange
|
Subconscious state of mind, other-worldly, not natural to the human eye, explore the mind |
| Bauhaus/De Stijl | Simplicity, Utopia, Modern
life, geometry
|
Pure form, honest, abstract, stylistic |
| Constructivism |
Revolution, abstraction,
|
Structure, modern architecture and design |
| Cubism | Multiple perspectives,
geometry, essence, gestalt |
Single viewpoint, interlocking planes, collage |
Reference List
eNotes. (2016). Manifesto of Surrealism Summary – eNotes.com. [online] Available at: http://www.enotes.com/topics/manifesto-surrealism [Accessed 21 Aug. 2016].
Moma.org. (2016). MoMA | Surrealism. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/surrealism [Accessed 21 Aug. 2016].
krystalhistorian 