(An Exploration of Dreams, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Nature, and More)
At first glance, artists and scientists are not expected to have many similarities or shared sensibilities. Both artists and scientists find inspiration in the ordinary and the extraordinary, but the methods of exploration differ. Whether it be earthly occurrences or wondrous phenomena, artists and scientists remain inspired, curious, and expressive with their impressions of these aspects of life and (human) nature.
Dreams, The Unconscious, & Surrealism
One of the most common and unexplainable phenomena experienced are dreams. To biologists, sleep is a biological condition of unconsciousness that is reversible and a physiological process that affects several brain processes (emotions, cognition, memory, etc.) and other biological functions. Sleep, according to somnologists, can be divided into five stages: wake, N1, N2, N3, and REM with each stage, sleep deepens. Oneirologists (scientists who study dreams) say that people tend to have vivid dreams during REM sleep. Dreams can be explained by the Activation-Synthesis Model, which supports the notion that dreams are random ways that our brains (the amygdala and the hippocampus) make sense of and interpret activity while we sleep.
Giorgio de Chirico, a prominent surrealist artist, once said, “Although the dream is a very strange phenomenon and an inexplicable mystery, far more inexplicable is the mystery and aspect our minds confer on certain objects and aspects of life.” Thus, this interest in the inexplicable makes me wonder, how are artists using dreams as a lens to explore life? To artists, sleep is a state of consciousness, not oblivion, and the content and symbolism of dreams (the unexplainable) become their art's basis and canvas. The Surrealists of the Surrealism art movement rejected rationality and were inspired by psychoanalysis and the force of the imagination that they believed was being subdued by rationalism and social conventions. They were inspired by the unconscious mind, as well as mythology; examples of the unexplainable.
The technique of psychic automatism in Surrealism, as André Breton defined it, allows one to express (in any medium) the true actualization of thought; they choose to make the inexplicable
explainable, but why? Although artists use their unconscious minds to transcend reason and logic, many do seek to intelligibly express recurring themes that came to them in their dreams and unconscious minds in order to understand themselves, be understood by others, and depict a uniquely human experience. Thus, the meaning of dreams (the unexplainable), not the occurrence itself (the explainable), is what saturates and satiates the minds of artists, allowing them to make the unexplainable inner workings of their minds a tangible reality. Therefore, the “unconscious brain” is what inspires artists—even if some do attempt to make these aspects comprehensive.
Essentially, surrealist artwork is unsettling, strange, and startling because it removes the spectator from their usual schema and into the realm of the unexplainable. It purposefully makes the explainable unexplainable. However, nature—which is considered by many to be prosaic—is the most common theme in Surrealist imagery; Salvador Dal's artwork frequently features ants or eggs, Max Ernst had a bird alter ego, and Joan Miró heavily favored hazy biomorphic motifs. Yet, how an artist views nature is more abstract and metaphysical than how natural scientists view nature. Man Ray, an American surrealism and Dada movement artist, believed art to be an assertion of individual, abstract thinking: “Nature does not create works of art. It is we, and the faculty of interpretation peculiar to the human mind, that see art.”
Natural Sciences Vs. Art
So, why are logical explanations so important in the natural sciences while abstract interpretations are just as important to artists? A natural scientist sees ants, eggs, and birds as ordinary and explainable aspects of animal nature. Therefore, there is a restlessness to move on to the next unknown; the egg and ants no longer interest us as they once did. Natural scientists don’t prioritize the explainable; however, the explainable is what is reliable, factual, and trusted in the natural science world. Thus, the unknown motivates natural scientists to learn and discover more, but it is the “knowns” that build the foundation of the natural sciences.
Many may argue that the explainable is just as important to artists as scientists, however, in Surrealism and the Dada art movements, the goal was to “surrealize” objects through the process and technique Dada called dépayesment (estrangement). What if the unexplainable is important to artists because it acts as a form of social subversion and emotional expression? What if artists purposefully make the explainable unexplainable? The intention was to “defamiliarize” the object by detaching it from its usual surroundings. The object could then be clearly viewed outside of its usual context. These strange pairings of items were believed to reveal the precarious sexual and psychological dynamics underneath reality's façade. Therefore, these paintings were intentionally made unexplainable.
Magical Realism, Nature, & Spirituality
Furthermore, magical realism is a literary and artistic movement that also purposefully utilizes the inexplicable as a form of social commentary and an expression of the fantastical. This aesthetic genre depicts the world realistically while also integrating mystical elements, frequently blending the boundaries between fantasy (the unexplainable) and reality (the explainable). For example, the Japanese animator and director Hayao Miyazaki’s work is truly a form of magical realism. Miyazaki and many other artists use enchanted forests as a motif that emphasizes the beautiful visuals of the wilderness and spirituality. By employing the unexplainable spiritual wonders of the natural world, they make the socio-political claim that nature deserves to be revered and preserved.
These are common themes in Japanese culture, but not nearly as much as in the West. Thus, does the definition of what is explainable or unexplainable change based on culture, and thus change for that culture’s scientists and artists? In Miyazaki's films, Shinto kami are frequently present. Kami are spiritual or holy beings that serve as incarnations of nature or the deceased that unite the material world with the spiritual realm and refer to all living things, both organic and inorganic, sentient and non-sentient. The idea of animism, Shintoism, kami, and inanimate consciousness is incomprehensible to scientists since it goes against their understanding of materialism and what can be perceived by the senses. Instead, it refers to a more visceral and metaphysical idea: the conviction that "something is there" in nature that cannot be explained.
Natural scientists view the forest as an ecosystem comprising various species of animals and plants, they do not usually view it through the lens of Shintoism or animism. When it comes to the explainable, natural scientists use the five undisputed senses to define reality and what lives in a forest, whether organic or inorganic. This has taken us far, as we have discovered medicines and new species. We have explained the extinction of native species and the relocation/endangerment of them due to global warming, invasive species, etc. But have natural scientists in the West wondered if there were spiritual forces at play? Most likely no, because in the sciences, what is most important are facts, results, and valid conclusions.
Impressionism & Realism in the Arts
On the other hand, the explainable, tangible, and knowable are also very important to artists. Impressionism and Realism are two art movements that epitomize everyday life and what can be seen. Realism is an attempt to depict real life and what is easily perceived. Using Franz Roh's distinction, Realism is a representation of “familiarization,” “history,” “reductive naturalism,” “empiricism/logic,” and “rationalization.” Thus, artists have been inspired by the explainable wonders of ordinary life and ordinary people. However, Realism’s “familiarization” stands in direct opposition to Surrealism’s “defamiliarization” (dépayesment or estrangement), showing that artists are equally inspired by the explainable and the inexplicable.
Further, the most significant artistic movement in modern painting is impressionism (circa 1860). This movement, which channeled the disenchantment of late 19th century artists, prizes both the explainable and the unexplainable. Impressionist artists painted not just what they saw, but also the visceral aspects of their interpretation; they weren't concerned with aesthetic accuracy. As their name implies, in contrast to photography, Impressionist works captured both image and emotion, the artist’s “impression” in other words. Exact representations were not required. Even though they were painting the explainable, they still sought to imbue these “mundane” scenes with the unexplainable aspects of emotional and mental interpretation and expression. They chose to “enchant” each scene with something unseen by the naked eye.
Conclusion
To conclude, for artists, it doesn't necessarily matter whether the object or subject is explainable or inexplicable, due to each artist's unique ability to make reality an abstraction and make fiction seem tangible and realistic. Whether or not an artist is inspired by the unexplainable or the explainable is up to the artist and their creative sensibilities and expression. For natural scientists, the same can be said: they are inspired by both. However, due to the objectivity and accountability found in science, where the data and findings of separate scientists build upon one another's, there is pressure for and a deep
value in progress that inspires them to tackle the next big unknown logically and factually. Thus, what can be explained is disregarded and used as the basis for understanding the unexplainable. Artists and (natural) scientists value both the explainable and the unexplainable, but in different ways, under certain circumstances, and to different lengths due to the nature of each respective area of knowledge; each field has its own formalities—or lack thereof—and different standards that decide whether or not an artist's or scientist's work is bona fide, unadulterated, and valid. Essentially, it is important to remember that the majority of what is now explainable was once unexplainable, and it is the anomalous nature of these things that initially sparked people's interest and led to further research and further creations in the arts.
Bibliography
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