Contemporary Surrealism or Demontological Surrealism

While there is much more to say about 20th-century Surrealism and its expression in various art forms, an equally interesting perspective is to reflect on Surrealism in the context of the present. Almost a century after the birth of Surrealism, its visual expression is being reborn. While we cannot ignore the fact that contemporary Surrealist design is often an illustrative imitation of 20th century Surrealism, hiding behind a desire to shock, we can also find some good and inspiring examples.

In order to define what contemporary surrealism is, it is of course worth bearing in mind that we cannot stick to the narrative of the past alone, and that we have to take into account the backdrop of the present, which, as we have discussed before, is filled with hauntological darkness, the unknown, and the somewhat nostalgic and yet desperate idea that we are living in a future that has never come. It is true that in this concept, one can assume that the process is as important as the result, and that the visual expression of design is often overrated. While the contemporary field of surrealist design lacks the aforementioned contextuality, validity or creative freshness, this work seeks to avoid the primitive repetitions of the past, which have caused surrealist design, which has become more and more popular in recent years, and which has been revived in the past few years, to seemingly float around in the space without finding a place for itself. The question is whether this is an emerging new surrealism that seeks a space for itself in today's context, borrowing the concept of the past as a starting point, but transforming its expression into a unique contemporary movement capable of reflecting on the present day, or is it a hauntological ghost, shuffling through the faded narratives of the past in the current visual expressions? The apogee of Surrealism seems to have ended more than half a century ago, but the 21st century, as we can already see, is blurring the temporal boundaries that could define Surrealism, or any other phenomenon, as a finite construct belonging only to the past. Communicating in a surrealist visual language, but often not finding the justification and depth of a value movement, such design eventually gets lost in the excesses of contemporary media, never finding its way into a new, vibrant movement. Over-illustrative, ghost-like, it satisfies our need for nostalgia for the past, in the hauntological context of modernity, while at the same time failing to offer the intellectual meaning or depth of the original surrealism of the 20th century. The revived movement thus seems to run the risk of becoming a simulacral reflection of time, not fully reflecting the narratives of either the past or the present environment, if it does not take on a more timely meaning. But how can we move forward and reflect on the contemporary world, if at all, even when we know that humanity is surrounded by thousands of ghosts of the past?

This is a difficult question to answer, but observing the field of contemporary design, it seems that the hauntological concept of the present and the ideas of S. Freud, A. Huxley, C. Jung of the 20th century have something in common. Both then and now, there are attempts to find ways to resolve the uncertainties of the time and to propose creative methods to reflect on the present. Designers such as Polina Miliou, whose work is, as she says, very much part of herself, and who seems to cover the images she observes in horror films with coloured paper (105) (fig. 16), or Chris Schanck, who uses his instincts to look for a way of expressing in the language of design the world beyond this one, without avoiding the narrative of existential horror (fig. 17). For example, his recent works are inspired by Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror". Also, another, really great example of contemporary New Surrealism, or, dare I say, Demontological Surrealism, is Brecht Wright Gander, who first studied philosophy, then turned to design, and who tries to abandon all logical rules of creation and, as he says himself, is always trying to escape from all the limitations of thinking and the brain. It is true that looking at B.W. Gander's work, there is no shortage of archetypal, sexual references, humour and absurdity, but one thing we can be sure of is that there is a depth to these works that is sometimes hard to grasp with the eyes (Fig. 18).

Pav. 16 Polina Miliou kurti autorinio dizaino objektai

Pav. 17 Chris Schanck kurti autorinio dizaino objektai

Fig. 18 Brecht Wright Gander design objects

However, not all examples of contemporary surrealism are so inspiring. While we do not want to question the quality or the depth of the creative concepts, we can define the criteria that are necessary for a convincing original surrealist design and, as we have already discussed above, otherworldly approaches (106) are one of the most important ways to achieve a good design result in the new surrealism. The process is usually much more important than the result in such work, and the word good, although dissonant in this context, is indeed much more important than in conventional, logic-based design, where the goodness of a design is defined only by its usual function, convenience, safety, logicality, cost, and, in the current context, at best, sustainability.

Thus, when looking at contemporary surrealist design, it seems a little strange that individual artists working in this field are identified as representatives of surrealism, but what is missing is a systematic, broader overview of the field of original design and insights into what contemporary surrealism is, because, in fact, it is clear that the expression and methods of this field of quality design are not entirely identical to 20th century surrealism. Today, listening to the thoughts of artists working in this field of original design, it seems easy to hear the horrors, the unnamable but emerging manifestations of demontology - intuitively or intellectually manifested in both design and other art fields. Although the hauntological backdrop of the world, which permeates the whole of pop culture, has so lulled us into its womb that we no longer have the enthusiasm to search for novelty in the ontological depths, and we are content with clichéd definitions, which, it is true to say, are not true to the content of the clichés, and which often confuse not only those who are watching, but those who are creating. And while the best examples of contemporary surrealist design are still not common, they cannot be called niche either. It seems that in recent years, in the global heartlands of design art - New York, Eindhoven, Los Angeles - there are names emerging that I would suggest as the new demontological surrealism. This term, which combines the ontological unit put forward by E. Thacker and surrealism, creates a new, unique artistic trend, which we often cannot find the words to describe, but which we can certainly observe in the art field of recent years. We can take as a basis for this idea not only some of the Surrealist artists' works, but also the theme of the 2022 Venice Biennale, "The milk of dreams", which is inspired by the title of a book by Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. One can assume that this activation of the field is a stimulus for the birth of a new surrealism and for the analysis of new approaches to surrealism. Robertas Narkus, the artist representing Lithuania at the Biennale, in an interview with the LRT radio programme "Culture Week" and in a discussion with the project's curator Neringa Bumbliene about the meaning of the project "Gut Feeling", seems to be drowning in the depths of notions. When Bumbliene says that the project is indeed above reality - surreal and fits into one of the Biennale's sub-themes - "the relationship between man and other forms of life or non-life on this earth", he interjects that it is perhaps more accurate to classify the project as a form of capitalist realism - hyper-reality, as defined by M. Fisher (107). And yet, a project that shimmers between the shadows of surrealism and the desperate, depressing capitalist realism, between life and non-life, the unknown and yet H. P. Lovecraft's prediction of the evolution of science leading to darkness, it is as if it is asking to be identified as art that "floats" in the timeless space of demontological surrealism, in the unfathomable infinity of modernity and in the flight to nowhere provoked by capitalist realism. On the other hand, when the author talks about the fact that part of the point of the project is to find out what shapes our desires, and then goes on to talk about the bacteria in our stomachs that affect us and our brains in a certain way, it is inevitable that we have to recall the ideas of the scientists and of E. Thacker, discussed in more detail in the first chapter, who said that we can't be sure how much of our thoughts are our own, if a large part of the bacteria that are present in our bodies are non-human. Another motif, coincidental or not, of this interview, the soundtrack of the hauntological sounding Aphex Twin (108) Polynomial-C, which is played quietly by the artist Robert Nark and the project's curator Neringa Bumbliene, seems to refer, wordlessly, to the demontological motive of surrealism and the hauntological, depressive atmosphere of capitalist realism (more about the electronic sound).

This example seems to prove once again the validity and relevance of the new demontological surrealism in the context of today's world. A systematic analysis of this field would perhaps open up new possibilities for both design and the contemporary art field as a whole to create works based on demontological surrealism that reflect a timely world background and, ultimately, perhaps as such, more frequent good examples would also inspire artists who create surrealist imitations - not to follow trends blindly, but to find their own unique ways of expressing the unimaginability and demontological horror of the world, without excluding the possibility that future surrealism will still offer ways that are unimaginable and unthinkable today. On the other hand, demontological surrealism could contain what cannot be understood, imagined or contemplated by human reason.

105 Polina Miliou’s Paper Pulp Pieces Have So Much Personality She Sometimes Gets Mad At Them. Sight unseen. [Žiūrėta 2022. Sausio 5 d.]. Prieiga per internetą: https://www.sightunseen.com/2020/07/polina-miliou-paper-pulp-papier-mache-lamps/

106 Turima galvoje nuorodą į A. Huxley mintį, kad norint pasiekti pasąmonės būsenas, neįmanoma to padaryti įprastais būdais, tad neįprastas rezultatas, turi būti siekiamas neįprastais būdais - unikaliomis technikomis, ritualais ir pan.

107 Kultūros savaitė. Poetas A. Jonynas, Venecijos bienalė, apie poetą Antaną Ingelevičių. LRT Kultūros savaitė. [Žiūrėta 2022 balandžio 23 d.]. Prieiga per internetą: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BkMKV69ZEgqmG5F0P0en5

108 Plačiau apie hauntologinį Aphex Twin skambesį skaityti čia