> I think what the surrealists were trying to do was present the viewer or
> reader
> with an image that was illogical... something to force people to think in
> ways
> outside of how we've been taught to think.  Dreams have always been strange
> and confusing, so painters like Dali used them for inspiration.  The
> emphasis,
> though, was not so much on dreams as it was on subconscious or unconscious
> impulses.
>

Yes I agree, that is a very fair encapsulation.  I guess I just wanted to point
out that they still maintained the trappings of a depictional space.  But it
did go very far toward abstraction, especially with artists like Jean Arp or
late Jean Miro.  And I also agree that a revisiting of their brand of
"abstraction from reality" woulid make for an interesting group of raytraces.

Jim

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