Exuberant visuality in the works of Georges Bataille (and Luis Buñuel): the case of 'eye-egg' and its obsessive implications
Dorota Nowak-Baranowska
Binus University International, Jakarta , IndonesiaAbstract
The aim of the study is to analyze Bataille’s Story of the Eye (1928) and Buñuel’s An Andalusian Dog (1929) as accurate examples of artworks that were broadly inspired by images from subconsciousness. Both authors are particularly fascinated by the ‘eye’ which becomes an object of obsession in their output. The ocular reference is however often replaced with the image of the egg, by the process of metonymy that has its origin in Bataille’s imagination and early compulsions. As such, both eye and egg, initially being almost divine, gradually become deformed, abject and, ultimately, annihilated. The image of eye and egg, symbolically the birth of universe, becomes paradoxal in the textual layer, as it’s constantly being deformed by obsessive thoughts from the past.
Keywords:
Bataille, Buñuel, eye-egg, obsession, visualityReferences
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