ELI5: What Is Surrealism?

Surrealism is a way of looking at the world where everyday things are mixed together with the strange magic of your dreams.

Think about what happens when you go to sleep. In a dream, you might be sitting in your normal living room, but your dog is flying like a bird, or your bowl of cereal is glowing purple. Even though those things are completely impossible in real life, your brain accepts them as normal while you are dreaming. Surrealism is when people take that weird dream logic and bring it into awake, daytime life.

Imagine walking through your normal day, but a few things are delightfully topsy-turvy:

• At breakfast: You open the refrigerator, but instead of cold milk, you pull out a melting clock that drapes over your hand like a warm slice of cheese.
• On the way to the park: You see a tall oak tree, but instead of green leaves growing on the branches, it is covered in fluttering butterfly wings and ringing telephone bells.
• In your bedroom: You look at the soft rug on the floor, and suddenly it turns into a pool of calm ocean water with tiny toy boats floating across it.

When artists or thinkers use surrealism, they smash two completely different everyday things together to surprise you. They might put a train bursting out of a cozy living room fireplace, or paint a giant green apple floating right in front of a man's face.

It is not meant to be scary; it is a giant game of pretend. Surrealism reminds us that our imaginations can turn ordinary, boring objects into pure magic just by seeing them in a brand-new way.