Page 84 - Studio International - July August 1970

monuments of the nineteenth century provide Revolution inside the head
an abrasive element which our culture has as
yet been unable to assimilate. Above all, they Surrealism. Permanent revelation by Roger
are enormous examples of an alternative mode Cardinal and Robert Stuart Short. Studio
of perception, of another set of priorities, an Vista/ Dutton Pictureback. 15s.
alternative to our accommodation to the
industrial system.' This little book falls, not between two stools,
In the processes of urban renewal and re- but several. To be fair, this is because its
development, many of these buildings which authors have tried to avoid yielding to the
give character and shape to the cities of the present tendency to treat Surrealism as a
present are faced with demolition. suitable subject for an academic thesis; a
This threat to the buildings and structures of closed chapter, a picturesque adventure; a
the past, but perhaps especially of the string of anecdotes; the temporary rendez-
relatively recent past, which twentieth-century vous of a few artists and writers of genius.
taste has found discordant in the pursuit of With this aim in view they have attempted
simplicity and functionalism, is the subject of both to present its history in the objective
Theo Crosby's argument. sense, and at the same time to suggest its con-
To demonstrate the intrinsic value of some tinuous relevance; a double image as it were.
Victorian monuments he makes a close Where they fail, perhaps inevitably, is that
examination of a couple of them— the Paris Surrealism with a big `S' is history. The death
Opéra, now revealed in its grand splendour of Breton has ended the adventure, and no
by cleaning, and Tower Bridge in London. amount of Parisian rhetoric in the master's
His admiration of Charles Garnier's opera style can re-animate its corpse. Furthermore
house provokes many superlatives: 'The it had been ill for at least a decade, only
interior is a brilliant sequence of extra- Breton's will kept it breathing. It dreamed of
ordinarily complex spaces . . . the interior its own past, its own glories. It repeated itself,
decoration is incredibly rich and complex... mumbled, struck out at imaginary enemies.
the sheer virtuosity of the carving is breath- The book, despite itself, has emphasised the
taking... the publication drawings (which) movements recent senility and confirmed its
are perhaps the finest ever produced for any death. The photographs are fascinating
building'. But his enthusiasm communicates, because of their period flavour. They are not
and some good photographic details under- outside time, on the contrary, and it's sad to
line his points. recognise, through the reproduction of paint-
Nearly a third of the book is devoted to Tower ings by the later adherents, that official
Bridge and the history of its predecessors. On Surrealism had become a manner; the very
the total experience of crossing the bridge, thing that it dreaded above all.
Theo Crosby is excellent: 'The sensations on Yet where the instinct of the authors is
the bridge are marvellously complex, the correct is in recognising the continuous exist-
web of steel against the sky, the vibration ence of the Surrealist spirit and its relevance
underfoot, the traffic on the roadway, and, on to our time. Crushed between two monstrous
the other side of the great thick balustrade, systems, the young react, almost instinctively,
the river boats and birds. The air of excite- in the mariner proposed by the Surrealists.
ment and participation is a liberation of the They have rejected 'reason' because they
spirit.' Is the destruction of Tower Bridge— believe it to be the licensed whore of the
on postcards and posters the international power structure. They demand total liberty,
symbol of London—even thinkable? Crosby and demand it not at café tables, or in books,
believes it is, and has the demolition of Grand or on the walls of galleries, but in the streets.
Central and Pennsylvania stations as evidence One thing this book emphasises is that,
of the ruthless, wasteful policies which all in practical terms, the surrealist protest
too frequently sweep aside great buildings amounted to very little: a few punch-ups,
in the interests of capitalist growth rates, personal insults, the interruption of certain
replacing them with mediocre modernity. theatrical performances, but there is no need
His 'tentative conclusions' sketch the outline to sneer at them for this. They analysed
of a preservation policy. These are reasonable, correctly the contemporary malaise of the
well-argued, well-written, and should be human spirit and offered the blueprints for a
required reading for every town councillor. personal revolution inside the head. They acted
Yet I rather doubt if it would influence them out the role of Voltaire; without them the
very much, because the choice of examples is present legions of protesting youth might well
too obvious. The book would make a deeper have lacked the inspiration to act.
impression if Theo Crosby had played the The paradox (and it is the refusal to
part of John Betjeman. With his keen eye for acknowledge this paradox that principally emascu-
the qualities of the urban environment he lates the book), is that surrealist works of art
could have revealed to us the valuable, but hang in the Establishment's museums as
far less obtrusive, examples of Victorian precious objects and pass for enormous sums
building which are more prone to fall before in the auction rooms, while at the same time
the heirs of the surrealist spirit face the police
the bulldozer and the steel ball.
q
PAUL OLIVER of the world in confrontation. The Surrealist
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