Surrealism and magical phenomena beguiled modernity with their enigmatic allure. In the turbulent times of the 20th century, when the world was grappling with the dawning of a new era, surrealist artists sought to challenge the boundaries of reality and explore the depths of the subconscious mind. Embracing the irrational and fantastical, they sought to unravel the mysteries of the human experience through unprecedented artistic expressions. Through their radical use of imagery and symbolism, they created a parallel universe where dreams and reality merged, offering a profound commentary on the complexities of the modern human condition. One of the defining characteristics of surrealism was its ability to tap into the realm of magical phenomena. Artists like Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and Max Ernst delved into the depths of their imagination to create mind-bending works of art that defied logic and reason.
Artists like Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and Max Ernst delved into the depths of their imagination to create mind-bending works of art that defied logic and reason. They painted landscapes that defied gravity, objects that morphed into other objects, and figures that seamlessly blended with their surroundings. By juxtaposing the ordinary with the extraordinary, they invited viewers to question their perception of reality and contemplate the existence of unseen forces at play in the world.
Magic Realism, World Cinema, and the Avant-Garde
This book examines post-war surrealist cinema in relation to surrealism’s change in direction towards myth and magic following World War II. Intermedial and interdisciplinary, the book unites cinema studies with art history and the study of Western esotericism, closely engaging with a wide range of primary sources, including surrealist journals, art, exhibitions, and writings. Kristoffer Noheden looks to the Danish surrealist artist Wilhelm Freddie’s forays into the experimental short film, the French poet Benjamin Péret’s contribution to the documentary film L’Invention du monde, the Argentinean-born filmmaker Nelly Kaplan’s feature films, and the Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s work in short and feature films. The book traces a continuous engagement with myth and magic throughout these films, uncovering a previously unknown strain of occult imagery in surrealist cinema. It broadens the scope of the study of not only surrealist cinema, but of surrealism across the art forms. Surrealism, Cinema, and the Search for a New Myth will appeal to film scholars, art historians, and those interested in the impact of occultism on modern culture, film, and the arts.
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‘The Ethics of Realism may be too tame a title for the rambunctious scholarship this book contains. Lúcia Nagib has a sharp eye for what, through her lens, become stupefying motifs and moments within films that she just as sharply cuts out of the vast herd of movies. You can sense her pleasure at relaying to us the cinematic power she has found in cast-off ‘failures’ like I am Cuba or that she resuscitates in films we thought we knew , such as The400 Blows. Ultimately tying these to historical struggles of filmmakers and the societies they worked within, she does in fact make good on her title. This is a truly high-minded argument for cinema as the conscience of the past century. The films Nagib illuminates made and kept promises to the world they came from. This book honours the importance, not just the beauty of cinematic art.’ Dudley Andrew ‘Lúcia Nagib’s book World Cinema and the Ethics of Realism injects new vitality and energy into some important but familiar debates in film theory. In the first instance, her surprising selection of films challenges existing concepts of world cinema. More radically, however, these films have a unifying aesthetic out of which Nagib’s own approach to realism comes into focus. These are films that privilege rawness and physicality, that place extreme demands on performers and producers, and inescapably work with the reality of event as well as the recording function of the medium itself. Nagib’s grounding for the aesthetic of realism is based on an ethical commitment to the living, temporal, spatial and dramatic exchange between the camera as mechanism and the extreme event it is filming. Nagib has successfully turned the theoretical kaleidoscope, reconfiguring the crucial concept of realism, its significance for film theory, into new, exciting, sometimes shocking, patterns of thought and perception.’ Laura Mulvey World Cinema and the Ethics of Realism is a highly original study. Traditional views of cinematic realism usually draw on the so-called classical cinema and its allegiance to narrative mimesis, but Nagib challenges this, drawing instead on the filmmaker’s commitment to truth and to the film medium’s material bond with the real. Starting from the premise that world cinema’s creative peaks are governed by an ethics of realism, Nagib conducts comparative case studies picked from world new waves, such as the Japanese New Wave, the French nouvelle vague, the Cinema Novo, the New German Cinema, the Russo-Cuban Revolutionary Cinema, the Portuguese self-performing auteur and the Inuit Indigenous Cinema. In all cases, making films is making history, entailing change in the real life of casts and crews, and therefore producing, rather than reproducing, reality. Drawing upon Badiou and Rancière, World Cinema and the Ethics of Realism revisits and reformulates several fundamental concepts in film studies, such as illusionism, identification, apparatus, alienation effects, presentation and representation. Its groundbreaking scholarship takes film theory in a bold new direction.
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The influence of surrealism and magical phenomena extended beyond the realm of art. It permeated literature, film, and even scientific discourse. Writers like Andre Breton and Federico Garcia Lorca embraced surrealism as a literary movement, using vivid imagery and dreamlike narratives to explore the depths of the human psyche. Filmmakers like Luis Bunuel pushed the boundaries of cinematic conventions, blurring the line between the real and the imagined. In the field of science, researchers like Carl Jung drew on the concept of the collective unconscious to understand the mystical and symbolic aspects of human experience. In an age of rapid technological advancements and societal upheaval, surrealism and magical phenomena offered a much-needed escape from the confinements of rationality. They spoke to a deep-seated human desire for mystery and wonder, reminding us that there are still realms of existence beyond the scope of scientific understanding. By challenging the limitations of our perception and embracing the irrational, surrealist artists and thinkers paved the way for a new understanding of the human experience, one that acknowledges the existence of the inexplicable and celebrates the unfathomable depths of the human imagination..
Reviews for "Surrealism and the Marvels of Modernity: Celebrating Magical Phenomena"
1. Sharon - 2/5 - The exhibition "Surrealism and magical phenomena beguiled modernity" was a huge disappointment for me. I didn't understand most of the artworks and found them to be bizarre and disconnected from reality. The curator's explanation of the magical elements present in the paintings and sculptures seemed far-fetched and pretentious. Overall, I felt like I wasted my time and money on an exhibition that didn't resonate with me at all.
2. Michael - 3/5 - I attended the "Surrealism and magical phenomena beguiled modernity" exhibition with high expectations, but unfortunately, it fell short for me. While I appreciate the artistic skill and creativity behind the artworks on display, I struggled to connect with them on a deeper level. The use of symbolism and dream-like imagery seemed arbitrary and lacked a coherent narrative. I left the exhibition feeling slightly unsatisfied and wishing for a more engaging experience.
3. Emma - 2/5 - Surrealism has never been my cup of tea, and the "Surrealism and magical phenomena beguiled modernity" exhibition confirmed my dislike for this art movement. The artworks seemed nonsensical and made me question the meaning behind them. The inclusion of magical elements only added to the confusion, as it felt forced and unnecessary. I left the exhibition feeling like I didn't gain any new insights or appreciation for surrealistic art.