" So the wider the semantic distance between the elements in a composition
the more surreal it appears? "
...and I've started to wonder about the differences between >good<
surrealism (as defined by people who know, a set of which I'm obviously
not an element :-), and the stuff that an algorythm might generate...
so tell me if this makes any sense:
What if the truly effective surrealistic pieces have more identifiable,
measureable, even quantifiable (shudder!) axis than simple semantic
distances? Take an object, say, a tricycle. Map this tricycle onto a
relative range or scale of kinetic-sensory experiences, determined by
how much you enjoyed it/hated it, how it compared to other means of
locomotion/physical exercises/whatever. Switch to another context, like
food. Within the range of culinary experiences, choose something that
falls in a similar place on the relative scale of like/dislike... I
dunno, like fishsticks or something. Paint them together. Does it work?
Now let's experiment by throwing in wildly contrasting and semantically
disparate objects.
How about objects at the top of their relative scales?
Let me reprint that quote from Dali:
"His imagery has, nevertheless, an irrefutable sense. A journalist
once asked him why he had painted Gala with two raw chops on her
shoulder and he replied, "I love chops and I love my wife, I can see
no reason why I should not paint them together." Dali arrived
straightaway at this dialectic of the absurd and maintained it in all
his pictures. [HAZA 85] "
This seems to support my lame-assed theory somewhat. Not absurd at all,
if you throw away the semantic context. Perhaps this is how he derived
his images... and why the works stand as an amazing and unique insight
into the man's feelings. The fact of his success may indicate a
resonance, or shared consensus, with a wider audience. In other words,
his personal ranges, and his mapping of specific object onto those
ranges, correlated somewhat with a significant portion of the populace.
We may be able to push the boundaries of surrealism in our VR world by
switching context again, and mapping such non-semantically related
things as the sound of water dripping, and a barefoot young boy walking
on a hot asphault road... both existing on sort of a "things mildly
irritating" scale. The juxtaposition of irritating water and irritating
lack of water may heighten the "true surrealism" index of such a work.
Further VR exploration could allow the viewer to attempt the creation
of surrealistic spaces based on these conditions. Or, as a test for
artistic sensitivity, judge the successful intuitive
interpretation/internalization of these characteristics of Surrealism
by judging the compositions of the student, as created from vast
central depositories of objects of all kinds... aural, visual, etc.