The Surrealists would have (or would have had) us believe that the unconscious wakes up as we enter into the absurd. That is, think about your dream iife. Or think about those Rozerem sleeping pill commercials: Abe Lincoln and a talking beaver hanging out together. The commercials work because we instantly recognize a talking beaver and Abe Lincoln as something that would happen in a dream. The unconscious that provides our dream life is absurd. Surrealists believed that we could achieve both personal and social liberation through this contact with the absurd. To some extent, they were right.
Now, the absurd won't start a revolution; people tuning into their unconscious will not save humankind. But, it does help us wake up.
The allure that absurdity gives wakes us from everyday. Interacting with our unconscious is one way to do this, through dreams. They make us realize something, or at least scratch our heads and wonder. And seeing it around us entertains us, but also revives us. It helps us realize there is more to life than work and school, bills and laundry. We can break the conventions.
Next time you watch or listen to something absurd, don't just laugh. Realize what it's telling you.
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Vinyl is ...
