Definition for Surrealism
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Surrealism in painting (early to mid-20th century) follows an early twentieth century fascination with the subconscious mind. Surrealism works were thought to be created by “pure psychic automatism,” whose goal was to merge reason and unreason, consciousness and the unconscious into an “absolute reality—a super-reality.” Its advocates saw it as a way to discover the basic realities of psychic life by automatic associations. Supposedly a dream could be transferred directly from the unconscious mind of the painter to canvas without control or conscious interruption. Two directions of surrealism emerged. One appears as metaphysical fantasies presented in a hard-edged, realistic manner. The second direction treats content in an abstract manner.