“Reality Reorganized”: a closer look at the surreal exhibit

What is reality? It is what we all perceive with the intricacy, complexity, and subtlety of detail that surrounds us and becomes our reality.
The surrealist museum at BYU aims to show how there are no boundaries to reality, but rather that reality is what you make it. Reality can be molded and manipulated in any way to suit one’s needs. What is reality? It is what we perceive. The intricacy, complexity, and subtlety of every detail that surrounds us, becomes our reality. We each perceive a distinct reality, and this exhibition aims to show how there are no boundaries to reality, rather that reality is what you make it. In fact, reality can be molded and manipulated in any way to suit one’s needs.
The BYU Museum of Art recently ran a surrealism exhibit, highlighting some lithography (a type of printmaking drawn/painted on stone, pressed, and then lifted onto paper) by Walter Askin and Wayne Kimball. The title, “Reality Reorganized”, is a nod to surrealism, and how the artists collectively refer to the familiar with common elements, although they choose to arrange them in odd and bizarre odd or bizarre ways.
The pieces curated for this exhibit show various sides of the artists’ realities, and how they choose to modify their perception. It also acts as an aid to others in beginning to change their perception of the world around them. Both artists’ intention is to allow the viewer’s mind to wander in whatever direction it is ledad. The artists encourage the viewer to take a walk and follow where their mind leads. Askin and Kimball agree that the meaning behind each piece is irrelevant. The audience shouldn’t overanalyze in order to find deeper meaning within the pieces. Rather, they believe in the artistic journey over the destination when appreciating a specific piece.
Walter Askin uses many recognizable elements, to initially capture a viewer’s attention., however Tthe scenes he creates are dreamlike, of which he says that he “walks the line between memory and imagination.”. Askin uses many familiar people as subjects, archetypes we have read about (such as the hero, the rebel, and the explorer), as well as playful surrealist ideas. He tries to keep the narratives within a piece puzzling, allowing the viewer to deduce their own meaning, creating a personalized journey.