Art for Art's Sake: The Legacy of Surrealism in Contemporary Advertising Culture

Art for Art's Sake - essay questions

Hello, I'm currently writing an essay entitled "Art for Art's Sake: The Legacy of Surrealism in Contemporary Advertising Culture". I am currently studying as a photographer that specialises in surrealist work, and I chose this subject to delve more into the cultural and social side of surrealism, while linking it to advertising and photography. I am, however, having a lot of trouble finding new chapters to write about.. I'm not good with structuring essays of this size (5000 words or so) and I'm not sure how to progress from here. Here's what my tutor told me to help:

"I'd the suggest the question is more one of why do we use and accept digital manipulation, and why does Surrealism have such a potent legacy in contemporary advertising culture. don't get hung up on the technology itself - that's just the process. Why it exists in the first place and the effect it has in our culture is far more interesting

There is a wealth of theory to mine here. You need to get chapter and verse on the history and philosophy of Surrealism. Then it's links with the visual language and semiotics of advertising. Once you're done with this realtively easy stuff - you need to acquaint yourself with Jean Baudrillard - and his writings on Simulacra, simulation and hyper-reality. "

My essay is currently structured as follows:

Introduction - 642 words

Surrealism in Culture (chapter)
- Legacy in Advertising, two paragraphs explaining how surrealism is used in advertising and why it's used.
- Romanticism and Realism, three paragraphs explaining the link between the romanticist and realist art forms, how it relates to surrealism, and how that links back into advertising.

- Simulacra and Visual Language, 400 or so words on what simulation/simulacra is and how it relates to surrealism and advertising.
- Contemporary Digital Manipulation - 3/4 of a page discussing why we use digital manipulation and how it was used before the advent of modern technology.

Where do I go from here? This is really stressful because this is needed for the course and I've hit a brick wall..

Thanks for any help

Hello, I suggest you go to search the information first...your tutor already told you how to start. He said "You need to get chapter and verse on the history and philosophy of Surrealism. Then it's links with the visual language and semiotics of advertising", so I think it is obversely you have to collect some information before you start writing, it seems like he still trying to give you some tips and help to start.

PS: I am not a professional writer anyway, just trying to encourage you and hope you will be fine.

I suggest that you first look into the history of Surrealism in the Arts before you look into Surrealism in culture. As with any Art centered research paper, the history of the art form is more important than its current applications because it is only through its history that you can explain how it affects modern art form. Study the surrealist paintings of the notable practitioners of the art form and note the reasons that they had for painting in such a manner. Look into the historical context of the art form in terms of its early application not only to art, but to the portrayal of some sort of advertising on the part of the painter. The difference is, the art form is not selling a product at that time. It is selling an idea or a political statement. Decide which manner you wish to represent in your essay paper and then add a chapter that relates to that in the outline and chapter divisions. You should find that it is much easier to relate the modern Surrealist art form to the ancient form when you think of ancient art as a method of advertising, which is the whole point of your paper.