The Elephant Celebes, Max Ernst, 1921For this blog exercise, i am suppose to comment on a selected masterwork in the context of surrealism. Max Ernst is in the Veristic Surrealism camp. The work is definitely firmly in the surreal realm. A mechanical elephant with its head and trunk swapping place apparently looking at a human figure with curious eyes. The human figure appears to be gesturing for the mechanical elephant to follow him/her. Squeezed to the right of the painting is apparently a tree made up of metal plates that resembles discarded metal teapots.
As i try to 'make sense' of the picture, i realized that perhaps the real art of these surrealist work doesnt take place at the material level. The surreal art piece mainly serve as a catalyst to spark off exploration of the viewer's inner conscious. The place where the art truely takes place is withing the viewers themselves and within them, perhaps it takes place at the reagion where the conscious and the subconscious collide.
As i try to 'make sense' of the picture, i realized that perhaps the real art of these surrealist work doesnt take place at the material level. The surreal art piece mainly serve as a catalyst to spark off exploration of the viewer's inner conscious. The place where the art truely takes place is withing the viewers themselves and within them, perhaps it takes place at the reagion where the conscious and the subconscious collide.
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