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How did Surrealists use automatism to explore the unconscious mind?

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Giacomo Balla: Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash — Modernism *Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash*, oil on canvas by Giacomo Balla, 1912; in the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, New York.

Surrealist artists and poets utilized automatism as a technique to bypass conscious censorship and tap into the creative force of the unconscious mind, a concept heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalytic theory.12

For poets, this involved entering a hypnotic or trancelike state to record mental associations without formal structure or editing. While this proved less enduring in literature, it became a highly productive method for painters such as André Masson, Arshile Gorky, and Max Ernst. These artists practiced visual free association, spontaneously recording fantastic or erotic imagery that they either left in its raw state or elaborated upon consciously.1

Surrealists also incorporated chance into their work to further unlock the unconscious. Techniques such as frottage (rubbing over textured surfaces), grattage (scratching paint), and decalcomania (pressing paint between surfaces) allowed artists to generate suggestive forms that they would then complete based on instinctive responses. By removing the filter of the conscious mind, Surrealists believed they could reveal the innate artistic significance of their deepest psychic forces.1