Massurealism – The Concept
A combination of surrealism and mass media, masurrealism is a western art form. The American artist James Seehafer coined the term in 1992. Surrealism is an art that focuses on what is outside of reality. It was developed by experimenting with new methods and techniques to discover and experience the unreal, and by identifying its relativity with reality. Mass Media consists of technology and Pop Art, its tools being video and computer graphics. Pop Art is a form of Technological Art, exploiting these tools for individual artistic production. Therefore, the creation of surreal artworks with the help of technology is called masurealism. According to Seehafer, the fundamental difference between surrealism and masurrealism is that surrealism developed in Europe in the 20th century, before the proliferation of mass media. With the help of contemporary computer graphics and video, the masurrealists gain complete control over the rendering of any level of images, which the surrealists could only dream of.
The history
James Seehafer, the founder of the word ‘massurrealism’, began his work using a shopping cart, which represented American media-driven mass consumerism. In 1995, through a small program, he inspired some German students to present a massurrealist show. Soon, James opened his own website and began receiving works from other artists. The theories of Cecil Touchon, Marshall Mcluhan, and Jean Baudrillard have greatly influenced Massurealism. Many objected that defining masuralism essentially restricts creativity. A free art can classify and categorize everything in life.
The artists, the artists
In addition to James Seehafer, the other noted masurrealists include F. Michael Morris, Marketta Leino, Ginnie Gardiner, Dominic Ali, Capyln Dor, and Cecil Touchan. This art form started in New York, spreading further to Los Angeles and beyond the US borders to Mexico, Russia and Europe.
works of art
The most famous masurrealist work is Seehafer’s Digital Collage, ‘Shopping Cart’ (1990). In this artwork, the car is placed against a dark background, in one of the most unexpected places for such an object, suggesting an alternate, hidden meaning in this commercial symbol. Another masterpiece of Massurrealism is the mixed media work ‘Die tote stadt’ (2004) by Melanie Marie Kreuzhof.
Conclusion
A marriage of surrealism and mass media, Massurrealism is often more than a combination of surrealism, pop art, and mass media. Basically, you have to explore and develop the interplay that arises from the juxtaposition of these sensibilities. Ideally, a Massurealist work should demonstrate an active dialogue between its defining elements.