Antonin Artaud was born on the 4th September 1896, On March 4th, 1948 Artaud died, alone in his pavilion, seated at the foot o

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Drama/The Ferry                Jack Frederick Pitfield 12EQ

Antonin Artaud was born on the 4th September 1896, On March 4th,  Artaud died, alone in his pavilion, seated at the foot of his bed, holding his shoe. Theories suggest that he died from a lethal dose of the drug chloral, although whether or not he took it knowing it was a lethal dose is not known.

Artaud was described as a madman and his credentials as one are impeccable. By age 21 he had already suffered a bout of meningitis, hereditary syphilis and a nervous breakdown. Furthermore, he spent approximately 15 years of his life inside various mental institutions.

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(I myself spent nine years in an insane asylum and I never had the obsession of suicide, but I know that each conversation with a psychiatrist, every morning at the time of his visit, made me want to hang myself, realizing that I would not be able to cut his throat).

Surrealism

Dictionary: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, or in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral ...

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