Bureau of Surrealist Research
The Bureau of Surrealist Research, also known as the Centrale Surréaliste or Bureau of Surrealist Enquiries, was a Paris-based office in which a loosely affiliated group of Surrealist writers and artists gathered to meet, hold discussions, and conduct interviews in order to "gather all the information possible related to forms that might express the unconscious activity of the mind."[1] Located at 15 Rue de Grenelle, it opened on 11 October 1924 under the direction of Antonin Artaud, just four days before the publication of the first Surrealist Manifesto by André Breton.
Purpose
According to art critic
Organization
Gérard Durozoi describes the Bureau in his book, History of the Surrealist Movement": "The bureau was [...] organized in such a way that a daily presence was assured by two people, who were responsible for greeting visitors (journalists, writers, onlookers, even students) and for taking note of their suggestions and reactions in a daily "Notebook"; the office would also guarantee a regular amount of daily publicity for the movement (press relations, various mailings), while in another room, on the first floor, other members of the group could meet for discussions, or exchange ideas and projects, or work on their own texts, or help to edit the first issue of La Révolution surréaliste."
Significance
One of the more significant contributions of the Bureau was its implicit idea that
Legacy
A similarly conceived institute in Amsterdam existed bearing the name until at least 1970.
References
- ^ Durozoi, Gérard. "An excerpt from History of the Surrealist Movement". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ Alexandrian, Sarane (1970). Surrealist Art. New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc.
- ^ André Breton: Magus of Surrealism, 1971, p.79
External links