The Foot in Surrealist Art and Theory

In: Paragrana, Band 21, Heft 1, S. 180-194

Abstract

Abstract
This article examines the appearance of feet in surrealist art in terms of their thematic contribution to the philosophical aims of the surrealist movement. Georges Bataille's theory of bassesse as the mechanism to achieve the informe, or the destruction of all categories of thought, is the basis for the reading of the significance of feet within the surrealist project outlined in this article. It discusses the theoretical preoccupations that make feet appropriate subjects for surrealist art and examines how several specific works of surrealist art employ images of feet.