Surrealism Now! with Dr. Thomas Mical, Begins September 3
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Wednesdays, September 3 - 24, 2025
10 - 11 am ET (NYC Time)
$80 Paid Patreon Members / $100 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Surrealism is a diverse set of practices for interrogating the unconscious and producing unexpected works charged with Eros or mystery. In this course, we will take up the surrealist challenge to blend dreaming with everyday life, using our imaginations as tools for discovery. We will explore how surrealists capture the imaginary through creative practices like revelation, invention, mixing, and transformation—methods that encourage us to experiment and think in new ways.
Given the current revival of interest in surrealism and new developments in the field, we draw on both historical and contemporary examples to spark wonder and curiosity. Each session will present notable surrealist works and processes, and guide participants in updating these techniques for their own creative use.
The course is organized around four main themes: Surrealism’s fascination with the occult, including seances, spirit photography, and magical practices; Dreams, automatism, and the creative possibilities of sleep and spontaneous expression; Dalí’s paranoid-critical method and its impact on surrealist cinema and art; and the creation of mythic, monstrous, and hybrid figures through surrealist collage and collaborative games.
Throughout the course, participants are encouraged to follow their curiosity and experiment with these ideas. As a final project, everyone will create a unique surrealist self-portrait, demonstrating their learning and personal engagement with surrealist methods
Dr. Thomas Mical has researched and taught surrealist thought and methods (plus architectural theory and film theory) for many decades in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, and India. He is Director of the Esoteric Library of the Kangra Valley (Indian Himalayas) and currently designing Bosch-Dali bio-machines.
Images: From Hitchcock’s Spellbound, sequences by Salvador Dali.
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Wednesdays, September 3 - 24, 2025
10 - 11 am ET (NYC Time)
$80 Paid Patreon Members / $100 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Surrealism is a diverse set of practices for interrogating the unconscious and producing unexpected works charged with Eros or mystery. In this course, we will take up the surrealist challenge to blend dreaming with everyday life, using our imaginations as tools for discovery. We will explore how surrealists capture the imaginary through creative practices like revelation, invention, mixing, and transformation—methods that encourage us to experiment and think in new ways.
Given the current revival of interest in surrealism and new developments in the field, we draw on both historical and contemporary examples to spark wonder and curiosity. Each session will present notable surrealist works and processes, and guide participants in updating these techniques for their own creative use.
The course is organized around four main themes: Surrealism’s fascination with the occult, including seances, spirit photography, and magical practices; Dreams, automatism, and the creative possibilities of sleep and spontaneous expression; Dalí’s paranoid-critical method and its impact on surrealist cinema and art; and the creation of mythic, monstrous, and hybrid figures through surrealist collage and collaborative games.
Throughout the course, participants are encouraged to follow their curiosity and experiment with these ideas. As a final project, everyone will create a unique surrealist self-portrait, demonstrating their learning and personal engagement with surrealist methods
Dr. Thomas Mical has researched and taught surrealist thought and methods (plus architectural theory and film theory) for many decades in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, and India. He is Director of the Esoteric Library of the Kangra Valley (Indian Himalayas) and currently designing Bosch-Dali bio-machines.
Images: From Hitchcock’s Spellbound, sequences by Salvador Dali.
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Wednesdays, September 3 - 24, 2025
10 - 11 am ET (NYC Time)
$80 Paid Patreon Members / $100 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Surrealism is a diverse set of practices for interrogating the unconscious and producing unexpected works charged with Eros or mystery. In this course, we will take up the surrealist challenge to blend dreaming with everyday life, using our imaginations as tools for discovery. We will explore how surrealists capture the imaginary through creative practices like revelation, invention, mixing, and transformation—methods that encourage us to experiment and think in new ways.
Given the current revival of interest in surrealism and new developments in the field, we draw on both historical and contemporary examples to spark wonder and curiosity. Each session will present notable surrealist works and processes, and guide participants in updating these techniques for their own creative use.
The course is organized around four main themes: Surrealism’s fascination with the occult, including seances, spirit photography, and magical practices; Dreams, automatism, and the creative possibilities of sleep and spontaneous expression; Dalí’s paranoid-critical method and its impact on surrealist cinema and art; and the creation of mythic, monstrous, and hybrid figures through surrealist collage and collaborative games.
Throughout the course, participants are encouraged to follow their curiosity and experiment with these ideas. As a final project, everyone will create a unique surrealist self-portrait, demonstrating their learning and personal engagement with surrealist methods
Dr. Thomas Mical has researched and taught surrealist thought and methods (plus architectural theory and film theory) for many decades in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, and India. He is Director of the Esoteric Library of the Kangra Valley (Indian Himalayas) and currently designing Bosch-Dali bio-machines.
Images: From Hitchcock’s Spellbound, sequences by Salvador Dali.