Un Chien Andalou (Dali and Bunuel)–surrealism/film
Un Chien Andalou was Luis Bunuel’s first film that he produced during the surrealism period. Bunuel produced the film during the Dada Movement that a group of surrealists was trying to substitute. The artists were more intrigued with examining irrational knowledge and desire, and they dedicated their efforts and time towards reconfiguring the object world (Elder 45). Research indicates that the artists of Dada drew their inspiration from automatic painting, writing, hypnotic trance, and psychoanalysis. The film Un Chien Andalou plays around with corruption of time, reality, and symbolism. As a surrealist artist, Bunuel firmly believed that nature is surrealist and irrational; therefore, it is not immune to bizarre creatures and violent human acts. The film seeks to keep the viewer intrigued about the desire and attempt to find meaning and closure in unexpected places. Furthermore, the film is widely characterized by the pervasion of symbolism and diversion of classic film narratives. Luis stretches his artistic freedom through his deliberate attempts to distort nature with the aim of unraveling the strangeness of nature (Elder 66).
The Surrealist Movement had particular images that were central to its themes, beliefs, and philosophies. The human hand, as portrayed in the film, was common in Surrealist motifs and was evident in Surrealist Movement. Such images were evident in surrealist paintings, films, and photography. The motifs played a central role in the surrealist movement, and researchers believed that it is an essential aspect of the history of the movement. It is necessary to examine films produced in the 1920s, to understand the Surrealist Movement. For example, one needs to examine recurring themes that the 1928 films, such as Un Chien Andalou, emphasize. The film focuses on the way hands can serve as an organ that generates both intolerable pain and intense pleasure (Elder 53). Primarily, the film transforms the human hands into fetish objects. On the other hand, the film recaps scenes of severed and wounded hands to depict and symbolize the castration of fear.
Narrative distortion is also an important aspect of the film. It betrays traditional film and attempts to fulfill expectations generated by storytelling. The film demonstrates the power of perception in the way humans understand different elements. Besides, the digression and disclosure from the norm is prevalent in the film. In one of the scenes, the film portrays a man who is sharpening a razor blade while the overhead clouds move across the face of the moon. It also depicts the eye of a woman opening and cutting into a half, which is similar to clouds’ motions. The man disappears but reemerges eight years later, and it is relatively difficult to tell whether he is an accomplice or a victim (Elder 84). Indeed, the film seems to abandon truisms and all conceptions.
Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel focus on the pervasion of symbolism by undermining realist ideas and thoughts in the way they use recurring symbols and motifs to enable the viewer to seek a deeper meaning of the film (Elder 109). For example, stripes recur throughout the film and seem to have a deeper meaning in the film. The film also depicts the complex nature of surrealist art. For example, the man in the film has a double that later shoots him with books that turned into guns. Such a sequence depicts a feeling of contempt and regret for the past mistakes that the man made. At some point, the man looks longingly at past papers and books, thereby suggesting deeper feelings that individuals may suppress as well as their inability to let go of their past.
Jean-Michel Basquiat – painter/graffiti
Basquiat’s artwork was representative of his cultural mindset during the creation of a particular piece of work. It represents a mindset that was prevalent among most New York artists that lived in the 1980s. Basquiat’s street art background played a crucial and integral role in his artistic style and development. Particularly, he used graffiti as an attempt of taking back the streets, ban space and try to manage them by him. (Renee 45). According to Renee, the personal ownership of unban space through graffiti helped him to regain his individual character. Young artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, were unhappy with the prevailing cultural principles and symbols of that time. From a street artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat grew into gallery artist by challenging the prevailing norms (Renee 79). His broad support suggests that his supporters were yearning for something fresh. His artworks illustrate diverse cultural perspectives.
Furthermore, the artist was keen on taking a different approach from the cultures that were prevalent in New York City and the world art history. As a result, he succeeded in creating a personalized brand of art that symbolized the rejection of the now-canonical and dominant art of that period (Renee 58). The artists of that time, such as Frank Stella, Donald Judd, and Hans Haacke, focused on conceptual and formal issues such as institutional critiques. In a way, his artwork is similar to that of Warhol in the sense that it embraces a mixture of both low and high cultures. Having started out as a street graffiti artist, Basquiat established meaningful connections with both struggling and accomplished artists. According to Renee, most of his work inspired upcoming New York graffiti artists (45).He had a unique style that was representative of the principles, ideas, and interests of various urban groups (Renee 42). His graffiti art was more emotional and personal, and they deviated from the pop culture. Primarily, his talent and hard work propelled grim to become one of the most successful African-American artists of his time.
Works Cited
Elder, Bruce. Dada, Surrealism, and the Cinematic Effect (Film and Media Studies). New York: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.
Fretz, Eric. Jean-Michel Basquiat: A Biography. Washington: Greenwood Press, 2010. Print.
Renee, Richard. Jean-Michel Basquiat. Cornwall: Polity, 2015. Print.
