Last modified: 22 Feb 2023 10:50
Surrealism was one of the most significant international avant-garde movements of the twentieth century (1924-1968) and has interdisciplinary reach as a theory of knowledge and mode of political activism making it pertinent to study today. This course introduces the core themes and activities of this vibrant art and literary history. Through study of key examples, students hone understandings of Surrealism’s enduring impact on, and practical manifestation in, early twenty-first century culture, from contemporary art to social justice campaigns #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Surrealism was one of the most significant and controversial international avant-garde movements of the twentieth century (1924-1968). Its enduring impact and practical manifestation can be traced throughout early twenty-first century culture, from contemporary art to recent social justice campaigns like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.
Beginning with Surrealism’s own attempts to locate itself within an intellectual heritage, stretching from Bosch to Gothic literature and Pre-Raphaelite art, students will explore this mode of counter-modernism and political art at its most forceful. Surrealism’s left-wing resistance to fascism during the interwar period led to its broad censorship as ‘degenerate art’. Consideration will be given to Black Surrealism, especially Suzanne Césaire and Wilfredo Lam, and the movement’s early adoption of postcolonial attitudes.
Attention will also be devoted to surrealism’s vicissitudes and blind spots such as Salvador Dalí’s capitalist embrace of commodity culture and his subsequent expulsion from the movement. Gender politics will be read through feminist-surrealist revisionary histories from the 1970s until the present, considering the work of Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning and Leonor Fini among others.
Surrealist media, ephemera and artistic techniques will be discussed in detail with practical classes on the game of ‘exquisite corpse’ or consequences and an archive visit to engage with primary surrealist material including magazines and collage novels. Surrealist exhibition-making will be covered across two classes from Peggy Guggenheim’s ‘31 Women’ to Lucy Lippard’s eccentric abstraction and the rise of soft sculpture.
Finally, the opportunity to survey the contemporary landscape will include investigation into conceptual artist Lucy Skaer and weird fiction writer China Miéville, among others.
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| Field trip to Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. Cost to be confirmed. | 0.0000 |
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will develop their own questions in consultation with the course coordinators. Written feedback and additional verbal with student as required. Indicative assessment week: week 12 of teaching. Feedback in week 13. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | Demonstrate a broad understanding of surrealist media and techniques, including, but not limited to, the readymade, collage, frottage, automatic writing, and the exquisite corpse |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply knowledge of surrealist precedents to critically evaluate the impact of surrealism on contemporary artistic examples |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Show a critical understanding of feminist-surrealist discourses and their application to a range of primary surrealist examples |
| Reflection | Create | Demonstrate confidence in researching, organising and delivering written and oral academic work in a class presentation on a defined topic, and an essay on a self-defined topic |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Written feedback after presentation; in-person feedback on request. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | Demonstrate a broad understanding of surrealist media and techniques, including, but not limited to, the readymade, collage, frottage, automatic writing, and the exquisite corpse |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply knowledge of surrealist precedents to critically evaluate the impact of surrealism on contemporary artistic examples |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Show a critical understanding of feminist-surrealist discourses and their application to a range of primary surrealist examples |
| Reflection | Create | Demonstrate confidence in researching, organising and delivering written and oral academic work in a class presentation on a defined topic, and an essay on a self-defined topic |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Article / book review. Written feedback; in-person feedback on request Indicative assessment week: week 6 of teaching. Feedback in week 8. |
Word Count | 3500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | Demonstrate a broad understanding of surrealist media and techniques, including, but not limited to, the readymade, collage, frottage, automatic writing, and the exquisite corpse |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply knowledge of surrealist precedents to critically evaluate the impact of surrealism on contemporary artistic examples |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Show a critical understanding of feminist-surrealist discourses and their application to a range of primary surrealist examples |
| Reflection | Create | Demonstrate confidence in researching, organising and delivering written and oral academic work in a class presentation on a defined topic, and an essay on a self-defined topic |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will develop their own questions in consultation with the course coordinator Written feedback and additional verbal feedback with students as required. Indicative assessment week: week 10 of teaching. Feedback in week 13. |
Word Count | 3500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | Demonstrate a broad understanding of surrealist media and techniques, including, but not limited to, the readymade, collage, frottage, automatic writing, and the exquisite corpse |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply knowledge of surrealist precedents to critically evaluate the impact of surrealism on contemporary artistic examples |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Show a critical understanding of feminist-surrealist discourses and their application to a range of primary surrealist examples |
| Reflection | Create | Demonstrate confidence in researching, organising and delivering written and oral academic work in a class presentation on a defined topic, and an essay on a self-defined topic |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply knowledge of surrealist precedents to critically evaluate the impact of surrealism on contemporary artistic examples |
| Conceptual | Apply | Demonstrate a broad understanding of surrealist media and techniques, including, but not limited to, the readymade, collage, frottage, automatic writing, and the exquisite corpse |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Show a critical understanding of feminist-surrealist discourses and their application to a range of primary surrealist examples |
| Reflection | Create | Demonstrate confidence in researching, organising and delivering written and oral academic work in a class presentation on a defined topic, and an essay on a self-defined topic |
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