Surrealism 2.0/Contemporary Games Analyzing Contemporary Games as a Re-emergence of Surrealism

Historically, Surrealism is defined as a literary and artistic movement which developed from Dadaism in the early twentieth century. Many artistic and literary historians assess that the lifespan of Surrealism did not persist beyond the 1960’s – that in fact, after notable surrealist such as René Magritte, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali challenged the limited cultural assumption of rationalism, the pursuit to explore and visualize the subconscious faded from artistic ambition. However, the purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative notion that suggests that digital interactive mediums – such as contemporary games and virtual technologies – have revitalized Surrealism, enabling game developers to build upon the initial philosophies made popular by the avant-garde movement.