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Surrealism Surrealism was founded in 1924 by Andre Breton. Although it has come to be known primarily through the visual arts, Surrealism was not a visual idea or style, but a way of looking at life – politically, socially, philosophically as well as aesthetically. “Surrealism is the wish for absolute freedom..to set people free, to save them.” Surrealists defied rationalism and strove to create artworks that were untainted by the conscious mind. Their fascination with dreams, sexuality, madness, to name a few, served as inspirations for their artworks. The object was a very popular medium for their expression. The found object, the readymade object, the dreamt, the box and the symbolically functioning object were some of the significant variations that were invented or used since the start of the movement. “The object was a collage in three dimensions” Surrealist artists used materials that were not normally considered suitable for art, often in combination with conventional paints. They used debris and waste products of society, items from lost property departments and Flea Markets – box of glass eyes, a mouldering stuffed eagle gorging on its prey, a fibreglass leg and false teeth. Artists such as Man Ray e