Massurrealist

Massurrealism

Massurrealism is a development of surrealism that emphasizes the effect of technology and mass media on contemporary surrealist imagery. James Seehafer who is credited with coining the term in 1992[1] said that he was prompted to do so because there was no extant definition to accurately characterize the type of work he was doing, which combined elements of surrealism and mass media, the latter consisting of technology and pop art—”a form of technology art.” He had begun his work by using a shopping cart, which “represented American mass-consumerism that fuels mass-media”, and then incorporated collages of colour photocopies and spray paint with the artist’s traditional medium of oil paint.

SEE: The Museum For Massurrealist Art
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massurrealism

Massurreality

‘What constitutes a Massurreality?’ (excerpt)
Cecil Touchon

Paper presented at the 8th Annual Qualitative Methods Conference: “Something for Nothing”
1 May to 30 September 2002

Breaking it down into three components:

MASS:

This is a reference to mass media – Television, movies, electronic, digital, computer influence, ads, print, billboard & other means as art. A new generation of artists are living in the age of mass-media, the internet, nuclear devices, and genetic engineering and the perennial question of what does it all mean? The details of daily life.

SUR:

(Super) – Sur is interesting because it can have two meanings which are opposite of each other Transcendental / Superficial. If you combine these meanings you have the completion – “Mind is Heaven and Hell. The akasha or accommodation is not so different from the sky. Sky we see at day or night: in the day there is a single torch yet all illumination; in the night there are many lamps, yet darkness. Sky at night is like the mind replete with knowledge of names and forms — it is still in darkness — while sky at day is like illuminated mind.” (Samuel Lewis)

In this sense we are mostly discussing night conditions – many lights, yet darkness.

REALITY:

This is a reference more to Consensus Reality than any other- The one assumed to be experienced by all used in mass media – This is average, sensual reality. This is the reality surrealism is ‘surring’ from.

Surrealism: this is the original art movement that is the basis of Massurrealism but taking into account the growth of advertising, mass media, widened perspective, Pop Art, capitalism, etc.

The Massurreality then, is an overarching humo-centric surrogate reality constructed by humanity as a mind world that we all share in.

The current post-modernist version is not unlike what Guy Debord calls the Society of the Spectacle. However, we shall refer here to the Massurreality in a more positive way than Debord’s more alienating and negative critique of modern society that he called the Society of the Spectacle.

The Massurreality is gradually growing into all economic and geographic sectors of humanity driven by the ubiquitous corporate desire for constant economic expansion. This expansion brings with it the program of the continuous, mantric repetition of positive advertising messages about the commodities that these corporate entities wish to sell to the general consumer population in order to inspire in it the sense of need for the commodities which are presented. A central theme of these laudatory messages is that through the purchase of these commodities the consumer not only receives the physical product itself but, by imbibing the product, is additionally imbued with all of the positive traits shown in the commercials and is tacitly accepted as a member of modern society.

Massurrealist

There are the artists who are involved in Massurrealism and make massurrealist inspired art. These artists accept and even embrace the massurreality and there are the (usually) unwitting spectators who experience and participate in the Massurreality via social media, mass media, the internet, who might also read books, watch movies, look at billboards, listen to the radio or watch the news. Anything that connects humanity together through any form of mass media is a part of the Massurreality and all participants are massurrealists.