Brainstorming: Subversion

After researching a range of definitions, I felt it necessary to complete a brainstorm of sorts. However, as we are looking at subversion, maybe I should consider a new method of brainstorming? A subtle subversion of my practice.

Usually, when I brainstorm, I would use the method of mind mapping. In previous cases, I have started by writing what I know and researching any extra aspects that I would like to add. This gives a good starting point for a project. I have included some images of brainstorms I completed for a previous project below.

The brief title for this project was 'The Significance of Numbers'. I started with an initial mind map and then selected some key areas that interested me. Once I had these, I could conduct further research. Then I created some individual mind maps. I then used these to write out 3 separate project ideas. This gave me a choice and starting points for each route.

If I am to look at subverting my practice then I need a method to do this. I had recently watched a documentary on surrealism for another project and thought it could be useful to this one. Surrealists could be seen subversives in many ways. They opposed outwardly opposed the political system at the time, avoided the use of all traditional methods of creation and relied on Freud's work on utilising the subconscious as a way to create their work. These methods of working were a subversion of traditional working practices and the transcendental meditation they used and automatism would probably still be considered subversive when used for creative practice today. I would like to research further on surrealism as a method of subversion. David Lynch (Director) uses transcendental meditation for creative work, however, I am yet to hear of many others that use this.

Above is the documentary I watched. I made notes on 2 of the methods of creation surrealists used that I could utilise. The first is that they despised traditional methods of working. For me, the traditional method of brainstorming, is the mind maps I mentioned before. So, I have decided I will not brainstorm in this way. The second method mentioned was this idea of automatic writing. Now I don't know much about using my subconscious mind when working, but I have seen methods of brainstorming when you just let the words flow. To do this, I will remove the researching part of my original brainstorming and instead just focus on what comes to mind when I think of subversion. My goal is to write quickly, not think too much and to fill a whole page. Within the Surrealist Manifesto, there wasn't any guidance on how to create a surrealist piece of work or how to be a surrealist, it instead had a lot of what not to do. I think this is interesting and might come back to this idea.

Bibliography

Cramer, C., & Grant, K. (n.d.) Surrealist Techniques: Automatism. Khan Academy. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/dada-and-surrealism/xdc974a79:surrealism/a/surrealist-techniques-automatism#:~:text=Automatism%20was%20a%20group%20of,virtually%20a%20synonym%20of%20Surrealism

Fahrenheit. (n.d.). Andre Breton’s automatic writing, a transcription of his dreams. Fahrenheit Magazine. https://fahrenheitmagazine.com/arte/arte-letras/la-escritura-automatica-de-andre-breton-una-transcripcion-de-sus-suenos

Manifesto of Surrealism By Andre Breton. (1999). The University of Alabama. https://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm

Manufacturing Intellect (2018) Surrealist Film: The Stuff of Dreams documentary (2005). [Video]. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=369lEhNjVXM&ab_channel=ManufacturingIntellect