Neosurreal Interior Design

Abstract

Surrealism, defined by founder Andre Breton in 1924, is pure psychic automatism used to express the true functioning of thought, free of any moral or aesthetic consideration. Although always comprising the unexpected, Surrealism has three general conventions: a juxtaposition of unrelated objects, incongruous changes in scale and the fetishism of bodies and objects. Surrealism’s potential in interior design has been largely unexplored. Behavior is a function of a personality and an environment; by using surreal characteristics to change the environment, designers can affect a positive change in human behavior. It is therefore necessary to isolate the types of environmental change that will yield positive behavior. To evaluate this question, 100 students completed a survey in which they evaluated 30 surreal images for how much they liked the image and how it made them feel. The results indicated that students preferred scale then juxtaposition and then fetishism, and they most often felt ‘happy, creative and free.’ Pursuant to these results, one interior space was developed in each of juxtaposition, scale and fetish styles. In a second survey, students evaluated each space, preferring scale change environments and commercial settings, and having an overall ‘happy’ experience with the spaces.