Expressions of Surrealism in 5 Articles

Expressions of Surrealism in 5 Articles 

Surrealism expresses the unconscious mind in dreamlike, 

illogical scenes and ideas.

Dr Abe V Rotor

1 - Surrealism: Doomed Predator

2 - A Touch of Surrealism: Leaning Lighthouse Ruin

3 - Surrealism on the Grassroots: Headless Doll Guard

4 - Et tu Brute? Last words of Julius Caesar

5 - Disturbing Signs of our Times

 1 - Surrealism: Doomed Predator

Dr Abe V Rotor

Surrealism: Doomed Predator in acrylic AVR 2011

Surreal - but who would know -

     the inmate or a child?

Who have not known enough,

     who shrunk from chide?

Surreal is Goya's giant, and Jaws,

     the lions of Hemingway,

one life taking another for survival,

     predator over its prey.

Surreal is a towering palm or tree,

     killer by allelopathy;

under its crown no sapling lives,

     including its progeny.

Surreal haunts millions in poverty,

     clinging to life as they pray;

prey of those living the Good Life,

     themselves too, are prey. ~

NOTE: Surrealists express the unconscious mind through their art, resulting in dreamlike or illogical scenes and ideas. Surrealism aims to revolutionize human experience. 

2 - A Touch of Surrealism

Leaning Lighthouse Ruin

Dr Abe V Rotor

Detail of a wall mural painted by the author at his family 

residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

"Leaning old tower, 

 watchtower and lighthouse;

look into a surreal world  

between the past and beyond,

romanticism and realism,

Freudian and Jungian,

a Pisa and a Babel."

* Surrealism may accompany the quaintness of a subject.  It revolutionizes human experience, balances a rational vision with the power of the unconscious, dreams, magic, as it rides on a strange beauty in the unconventional world. ~

 3 - Surrealism on the Grassroots

Headless Doll Guard

Dr Abe V Rotor

Makeshift sign with a sentinel - a headless doll - reserves a space for a fee. 
Commonwealth Avenue, Barangay Mangahan, QC 2010

    Headless Doll Guard

If art originates from thoughts and feelings,

could it also originate from feelings alone,

that creeps into the darkness of life

gnawing the being to the bone?

If one finds art is a piteous parking sign,

is it akin to compassion, to a kind soul -

needless that a headless doll speak

of morbidity, but of a pleading call?

In this corner the artist calls it surreal,

but the soul rises above reason and heart -

its emptiness filled with some sanity,

that surrealism is neither fate nor art. ~

Surrealism focuses on mystical and metaphysical experiences, dealing with pervasive subjects and excessive rational thoughts.

 

4 - Et tu Brute? Last words of Julius Caesar*

Artwork by Dr Abe V Rotor

House guest Dr Lorenzo L de Jesus, examines artist's interpretation of the assassination of Julius Caesar on the ides of March 44 BC symbolically depicted on a shattered marble slab, by Dr Abe V Rotor, 2021.  On display at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

* Et tu, Brute? is a Latin phrase literally meaning 'and you, Brutus?' or 'also you, Brutus?', often translated as 'You as well, Brutus?', 'You too, Brutus?', or 'Even you, Brutus?' As readers of William Shakespeare know, a dying Caesar turned to one of the assassins and condemned him with his last breath. It was Caesar's friend, Marcus Junius Brutus.

Marcus Junius Brutus, a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, died by suicide after his defeat at the second battle of Philippi. (Internet)

 5 - Disturbing Signs of our Times

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Armageddon warning

Shadow of Death 

Nature crucified 

* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday (www.pbs.gov.ph)