From: antonsen-AT-alf.nbi.dk Subject: Re: Artaud, Post-Modernism & Zapatistas Date: Tue, 10 Dec 96 12:55:04 +0100 A (very brief, too brief, sorry) reply to Carlos, >About the matter how to move art in a dialectical direction it seems >you are asking me for a concrete strategy on the matter when i simply could >give is some thoughts about it. Yes I know. But I asked you because you seemed to have been conscious of working in that direction, therefore I was hoping you had some concrete results. We probably do not need a new manifesto, but what we could use, I think, is a new approach. It is very easy for all of us to fall into the trap of just saying what has already been said. If we are to rejuvenate surrealism, we need to find our own voices, and in particular to find something new to say. A lot of what is done today is closely related on a formal level to the artists of the past. This is not necessarily bad, not at all. But I would very much like to see something related to the artists of old on a "spiritual" level. There is a lot there still needs to be understood, truely understood, about the artists of the past. In particular Magritte, Duchamp, Ernst, Miro, Paalen and Matta (and Mario Cesariny >from your own country, Asger Jorn and Wilhelm Freddie from mine). What was the "inner necessity" that drove them to paint as they did? One of the few living surrealists who continue that spirit seems to me to be Jan Svankmajer. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of Mario's works, but I would expect him too to belong to this category. You have the added benefit of actually talking on a more or less regular basis with Mario Cesariny. This is anothe reason why I asked you (I intend to ask others later). I for one would be very much interested in hearing what you have to say, even if you are not a theorist (kidding), provided you say it clearly enough. This could be another point separating us from the post modernists. Anyway, good luck with the translations. Frank
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