Organised by the Design Museum
Join our 3-part online Surrealism Design History course. Find out how the art and literary movement that began in the 1920s came to shape the designed world.
Discover the major designers and creatives responding to Surrealist ideas today, through live online lectures, contemporary studio visits and insights filmed on location from our current exhibition Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today.
Course structure
Session 1: Launched in Paris in the 1920s and now a global movement, Surrealism is celebrated for its art and literature, but its contributions to the field of design are much less familiar. This lecture will explore design’s fascination for the early Surrealist group, the rise of design-oriented works and collaborations by Surrealists across the century, and the complex encounter between design disciplines and Surrealism’s revolutionary ideals. How did design professionals respond to this challenge, particularly from an ethical perspective, and how have today’s key designers grasped the radical possibilities of Surrealism’s claim to change life and transform the world?
Session 2: Surrealism and Fashion From its inception almost 100 years ago, the Surrealist movement was predestined to find a natural home in the world of fashion. A manifesto built on fantasy and the “surreal” provided the perfect platform for unbridled creativity. From the iconic early collaborations of Salvador Dali and Elsa Schiaparelli through to the groundbreaking designs of Jean Paul Gaultier in the 80’s, Surrealism has had an enduring impact on the world of fashion. As a new generation of design talent responds to our uncertain times, that collision of the subconscious irrational mind and the mundane everyday has never felt so important.
Session 3: Surrealism and Interior Design Surrealism began to shape the designed world through architecture and interiors. In contrast to the rational and minimalist aesthetics of 1920s Modernism, Surrealism inspired designers to combine styles, use innovative materials, and engage with the irrational. Monkton House, the home of British poet Edward James, was one of the most iconic examples of a Surrealist interior, introducing collaborations with artists such as Salvador Dalí into domestic spaces. James’s foresight at Monkton, and elsewhere, led to radically imaginative pieces including the Lobster Telephone and Mae West Lips Sofa.
With Design Museum Academy online courses, you can learn with others by joining our live lectures and raising questions in the Q&A or through receiving a recording of the events available for a week after the whole course series has finished. Each week there will be time available at the end of the hour-long session to answer questions.