Arts and society.

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.

This study looks at artists’ careers as paths defined by their relative position in a
dynamic professional network where innovation and creativity are highly regarded.
Today, the theoretical and empirical study of networks has demonstrated that in some
professions the individuals’ position in the network can facilitate or constrain their
success. In studies about diffusion of information, for instance, some authors have found
that individuals connected to a greater variety of sources are more creative and perform
better. I explored this idea by looking at a network of visual artists and art institutions in
Miami, and found a positive correlation between position and success, though, not
explained by variety exclusively. In the network, artistic success is a function of
connecting both across artistic categories and a hierarchical system; therefore, in an art
world, creativity and innovation are mediated by key members, who distribute
information and resources through affiliation, prominence and brokerage.