This month we’ve been exploring freedom with 20% time and the freedom provided by autonomy.
For August’s tutorial, we’ll be freeing up our expressive subconscious minds with a few fun and super easy exercises to try in the studio.
First, a little background…
Surrealist automatism was devised by the surrealists of the 1930s, and went on to be highly utilized by the abstract expressionists of the post-war era.
When we think about surrealism, most of us make a beeline for Salvador Dali with the awesome mustache.
Although Dali was a seriously cool (and extravagantly eccentric) dude, surrealism really gets its roots from André Breton.
Breton drafted The Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, largely in reaction to the First World War and inspired by Freud’s psychiatric theories. He defined surrealism as “pure psychic automatism”. Later, after fleeing to New York in 1941, his influence on painters of the New York School including Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Roberto Matta, Robert Motherwell, and Joseph Cornell became evident in their work.
Automatism refers to any artistic technique or method which applies chance and accident to mark-making to free the act of rational, conscious control.
Basically it’s automatic or spontaneous.
Surrealists believed that the results could be attributed to the subconscious and reveal something about the psyche which would otherwise be repressed. It was considered a way to make the art more truthfully expressive, creative, and raw. As a response to the indescribable horrors of war, it makes sense to try and speak to complex abstract feelings rather than carefully articulated compositions which may not capture the whole.
Automatism techniques are still used in art therapy programs, particularly with children, for patients coping with psychological trauma.
In fact, studies about flow state and meditative art show that removing the thinking, conscious mind from the process actually does activate other areas of the brain, so maybe they were on to something…
Automatism can be a great way to tap into your inner artist and raw expression, but it’s also just a fun way to mess with new mediums, get your inspirational juices flowing, and enjoy a little creative freedom in the studio.
Free your art with these four activities:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccafoxart/20965003806/in/dateposted-public/
Drip, drip, drip – Action Painting
This is something I actually use a lot in my own artwork to add an expressive element. You probably recognize it best coming from Jackson Pollock.
- Latex house paint works best for this. Go to your home improvement store and have them mix up a couple of sample pots for you. They’re about $3 a piece and it’s fun because you can choose any colors you want. Make sure to grab some stirring sticks too.
- Protect your surface – This will get messy!
- Set your canvas or paper down. If you’re using paper, make sure it’s hefty enough to handle the weight of the paint and not have it seep in.
- Dunk and drip. Flick it. Drop it. Twist it! Bop it! It’s neat because you can layer the colors. And you have a little bit of control over where it goes, but basically the paint’s gonna land where it wants to.
Free Drawing
Probably the simplest of these activities, it’s putting pen to paper without any thought or plan. Hold your pen loosely, maybe even in your non-dominant hand and allow it to drift over the paper, changing the weight and style of your scribbles as you go. This is a very meditative way to draw.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccafoxart/20991265135/in/dateposted-public/
Exquisite Corpse
The name of this collaborative art game comes from a phrase “The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine” that resulted when it was first played by the Surrealists at 54 rue de Chateau.
Here we play the drawing version.
- Take a piece of paper and fold it up so that each person will have a plane to draw on.
- The first player draws a simple image of their choice, extending at least one line over a crease. Fold the paper over to hide your drawing
- The 2nd player then uses those lines to continue the drawing without seeing the original.
- Have each player draw until all the planes are filled.
- Open it up to see the results and laugh.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccafoxart/20802953868/in/dateposted-public/
Google Fu – Free Association
- Write 10 words on a piece of paper as quickly as you can The first things that come to mind.
- Then enter your words into an image search one at a time. Scroll through the results and pick one or two images for your word. It does not have to be an actual representation of the word, just choose whatever jumps out at you. Have fun with it.
- Repeat for all 10 of your words
- Print out your chosen images and arrange or draw them on a surface as a collage. Play around with shapes in your composition and see if you come up with any weird, funny, or thought provoking combinations!
Share your projects with hashtag #thepaintingbee
The Painting Bee 