As with Dadaism, one of the primary techniques practiced by many Surrealists was the process of automatism. Similar to other artistic manifestations such as improvisational free jazz, automatism involves writing and drawing with as little conscious control as possible. This technique was considered valuable because the Surrealists believed it allowed them to tap into their subconscious and explore the realms of their inner psyches while consequently expanding that territory.Dreams were also of great significance as these were considered a chief route to the primal self, encased by what they believed to be an artificially constructed cultural consciousness.In an extension of this, Surrealist art sometimes featured recurring symbolism to convey the idea that time is fluid.Ants stood for putrefaction and transition while drawers symbolized memories that could be locked away.
Creating odd and often thought-provoking juxtapositions was another core Surrealist technique, with fragments coming together in unconventional contexts. In fact, the more various puzzle pieces differed from one another -- and the greater the sense that the newfound relationship was genuine -- the more profound the conveyed message was believed to be. This relates to the word "surreal" itself, which was meant to express the idea that Surrealism goes above and beyond mundane reality, that it reforms and transcends it.
Surrealist paintings often leave viewers with a confused or eerie sensation. Apart from crazy juxtapositions, the art might portray menacing shadows cast by figures lurking just outside the frame or twisted objects that look like characters out of a nightmare or a hallucination. Components that many might consider perverse or grotesque are fair game, and eroticism often plays a role as well. All in all, Surrealism can easily come off as disturbing, or at the very least, a bit unsettling.
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Aerographyis a technique n which a three dimensional object is used as a stencil to spray paint.
Automatism -The hand is freely and randomly allowed to move across the paper or canvas leading to chance, lack of rational control and accidental mark making.Hence the drawing produced may be attributed in part to the sunconscious and may reveal something of the psyche which would otherwise be repressed.
Bulletism involves shooting ink on a blank pice of paper either directly from the bottle or by dipping a sponge in the ink and throwing it to the wall.
Calligramme is a poem verse phrase of piece of text in which the letters are arranged in a way to create a pictorial depiction of the meaning of the text itself.
Collage collecting a range of different material like newsprint,fabric, plastic,photographs, postcards, wall paper, three dimensional objects-any material that can adhere to a flat surface and taping or glueing it on to create a complex composite image.
Coulage a form of involuntary sculpture in which liquid material like molten wax, chocolate of metals like broze or pweter are poured into cold water to create 3 D forms which are unpredictable.Another method would be to collect scraps of paper and rolling them to form 3D shapes.
Cubomania is a collage method in which a photograph is cut up into squares or rectangles and these are then reassembled automatically and randomly to create an image which bears little ressemblance to the starting image.
Cut up technique a piece of linear text , film or recorded speech is cut up and rearranged in a random order.
Étrécissements-While collage is an additive technique, this is a reductive technique.The results are achieved by the cutting away of parts of images to encourage a new image, by means of a pair of scissors or any other manipulative sharpened instrument.
Decalcomania is a technique in which a thick layer of paint is applied on paper or canvas and while it is still wet, another material like aluminum foil is pressed onto it.It is removed before the paint dries and the resultant abstract patter is known as Decalomania.
Dream Resume- This takes the form of an employment resume but chronicles its subject's achievements, employment, or the like, in dreams, rather than in waking life. Sometimes dream résumés contain the achievements of both, however.
Echo Poem a technique in which a sheet of paper is divided in half in two coluns.It is composed by two people.The verse on the left is written first followed by its echo on right hand side.
Echlaboussure is a process in Surrealist painting where oil paints or watercolours are laid down and water or turpentine is splattered, then soaked up to reveal random splatters or dots where the media was removed. This technique gives the appearance of space and atmosphere.
Entopic Graphomania is a surrealist and automatic method of drawing in which dots are made at the sites of impurities in a blank sheet of paper, and lines are then made between the dots; these can be either "curved lines... or straight lines.". Ithell Colquhoun described its results as "the most austere kind of geometric abstraction. It is to be distinguished from "entoptic" methods of drawing or art-making, inspired by entopic graphomania
Exquisite Corpse:or Cadavre exquis is a method by which a collection of words or images are collectively assembled. It is based on an old parlour game known by the same name (and also as Consequences) in which players wrote in turn on a sheet of paper, folded it to conceal part of the writing, and then passed it to the next player for a further contribution.
Frottage is a method of creation in which one takes a pencil or other drawing tool and makes a "rubbing" over a textured surface. The drawing can either be left as it is or used as the basis for further refinement.
Fumage is a technique in which impressions are made by the smoke of a candle or a kerosene lamp on a piece of paper or canvas.
Time Travellers Potlatch is a game in which two or more players say what gift they would give to another person - this is usually an historical person who played a role in, or had an influence on, the formation of Surrealism.
For Catherine the Great: My foot and a chainsaw dipped in lime juice
For the Marquis de Sade: Space shoes and ping pong and lollipops and MTV
For Simone de Beauvoir: Red sheets and blue sheets and jaundiced kewpie doll legs
For Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven: A boa of thorns
Grattage is a technique in painting in which (usually wet) paint is scraped off the canvas.
Heatage is an automatic technique developed and used by David Hare in which an exposed but unfixed photographic film is heated from below, causing the emulsion (and the resulting image, when developed) to distort in a random fashion.
Indecipherable Writing- writing that is illegible or for some other reason cannot be read by the reader.
Involuntary Sculpture-those made by absent-mindedly manipulating something, such as rolling and unrolling a movie ticket, bending a paper clip, and so forth.
Movement of Liquid down a vertical surface as the name suggests it is just that.
Outagraphy a photograph in which the main subject/person who has been photographed is removed the picture by cutting out.
Paranoic Critical Method is a technique invented by Salvadore Dali which consists of the artist invoking a paranoid state (fear that the self is being manipulated, targeted or controlled by others). The result is a deconstruction of the psychological concept of identity, such that subjectivity becomes the primary aspect of the artwork leading to the creation of a myriad fantasy and dreams.
Parsemage is an unconscious marbelling technique using charcoal dust.Charcoal is dissolved in water and a paper is submerged in the water and taken out so that the charcoal adheres to he paper in some parts.
Photomontage is a process of cutting and then overlapping different images either digitally or manually to create a new image.Many times the resulting image is re photographed so the result flows seamlessly.
Soufflage is a painting technique in which liquid paint is poured or injected to reveal an abstract form .As a child I used to play with watercolours and straw did not know it was a surrealistic technique.
Triptography is an automatic photographic technique whereby a roll of film is used thrice either by the same photographer or in the spirit of Exquisite Corpse three different photographers, causing it to be triple exposed in such a way that the chances of any single photograph having a clear and definite subject is nearly impossible.The results have a quality reminiscent of the transitory period in sleep when one dream suddenly becomes another.
