Surreal Objects

All the established elements of a surreal painting are present in this well-composed narrative with the sun casting shadowy lead in lines between the cubist-inspired triangles. The muted colour tones give your creation an added sense of lost hope and despair, insinuating that perhaps the lone man sitting next to the dead tree is contemplating his own demise by throwing himself over the edge of the cliff.

I asked for unassociated surreal objects for this challenge but this photo of associated objects photographed in an unassociated manner is so simply surreal that it had to be included in my top ten. Deconstructing the clock (one of surrealist’s go to favourites) in your minimalistic treatment has furnished you with a very apt title. It’s impossible to say how long the hour, minute and second hands have been standing by the side of the clock face but judging by your entry its been no time at all.

This is a beautifully liquified Dali inspired photograph. You’ve used his ubiquitous melting clock like an oil can to drip, drip viewers down towards your thick molten metal and glass puddle. Your adroit still life composite comes alive by creatively joining the two unconnected photos together. Shooting against black ensures that the eye concentrates on your surreal interpretation without any unnecessary distractions in the background.

In this winning image we have a composite inspired by Magritte’s ‘Treachery of Images’ claiming “This is not a Pipe”. The photographer have gone a step further and combined an almost identical smoking pipe bowl with a brass pipe plumbed in as the stem and shank. This is very clever because it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the two unconnected items are both pipes of one sort or another. The amalgamation has not only improved but visually surpassed the iconic piece of surreal art. “Put that in your pipe and smoke it René.”

The comical act of placing a polka dot beanie on top of a hydrant has transformed this mundane street object into Dada portraiture. The humanised cast iron spout has metamorphosed into a phallus ready to urinate in the street. Odd how two unconnected items can completely change each others meaning when placed together. I take my hat off to you.

This is a clever rendition of another surreal artist's recurring theme. This time in the form of a dead fish. The red mullet looks out of place trapped upside down in a see-through vase. What gives this still life an extra touch of oddity is that the glass shape is like a man’s hospital urine bottle. Your still life (originally shot as an environmental statement) scales new depths as a bizarre 20th century avant-garde piece.

You have taken advantage of this weird looking letterbox and transformed it into surreal art by placing a pair of (off-kilter) dentures inside. The background is suitably blurred to bring the object of your photograph sharply into focus. This is a masterly lesson on how to simply bring two unfamiliar objects together to create an artistic masterpiece. All it took was a little imagination - if tooth be told.

Here are two obscure elements placed together to create a deviantly surreal image. Once again we have an entry inspired by Dali - the photographer has taken Salvador's telephone lobster and repositioned it on the body of a naked female mannequin. The lobster's claws caress her inanimate breasts while the tail covets her hidden vagina. This is a simple, strong and bizarrely sexual composition.

This is pure surrealism. A street image that utilises the genre perfectly. Whether the photograph is staged or not doesn't matter - the dumped mannequin’s legs are in direct comparison to the man in the wheelchair who’s unable to use his own legs. Two people standing upright and a pair dangling their legs off a high wall further accentuate your narrative - even though ramming the message home has bin rubbish.

By removing the letters and numbers off the keyboard you have rendered your quirky QWERTY completely useless. In the best traditions of Dadaism the everyday object has been rendered totally defunct. Instead of adding two unconnected objects together you have subtracted existing elements and in the process spelt out your unique message - without the use of any letters of the alphabet.