2. The found object
(objet trouvé)
The found object is one
which when seen among a
large number of other
objects posseses an
attraction.

3. The natural object
This may be a root or a
seashell, but the
surrealist always
preferred stones.

4. The interpreted found
object
This is most frequently an
ornament or a utensil
which has been converted
by sleight of hand into a
bizarre object.

5. Never (1938), by
Óscar Domínguez
An old
phonograph, pai
nted white, with
a woman’s legs
emerging from
the horn.

6. The interpreted natural
object
In this case, a poetic camouflage
either entirely conceals the
characteristics of the root or
the stone on which it is
based, or on the other hand
faithfully follows its suggestions.

7. The readymade
This term can be applied only to an
industrially mass-produced object
whose function is altered, and which
is dragged from its context of
automatic reproduction in the most
ingenious way possible.

8. Gift (1921), by Man
Ray
A flat-iron with
its ironing
surface
bristling with
nails.

9. The assemblage
This is made up of
natural objects or found
objects arranged to
form a sculpture.

10. Are You Niniche?
(1956), by Max Ernst
Made by
using two
yokes and a
printing
plate.

11. The incorporated object
This is an object associated
with a painting or a sculpture
in such a way that it cannot
be removed without
depriving the work of its
raison d’être.

12. The Spanish Dancer
(1928), by Joan Miró
A hatpin and
a feather are
fastened to
the virgin
canvas.

13. The phantom object
The phantom object is an object which might be
made, but which is instead merely suggested by
a verbal or graphic description.
The phantom object can also be an object which
does not exist, but whose existence, by some
subterfuge, is made to be felt and its absence
regretted.

14. The invisible object
(1934-5), by Alberto
Giacometti
A woman whose hands
clutch at empty
space, holding
something which does
not exist but to which the
sculptor seems to have
given volume, although it
cannot be seen.

15. The dreamt object
It is a humble, familiar
object, which by some
caprice of desire is given
a sumptuos appearance.

16. Cup, saucer and spoon in
fur (1936), by Meret
Oppenheim

17. The box
This object comprises the
arrangement of various
elements brought
together in a box.

18. Taglioni’s Jewel
Casket (1940), by
Joseph Cornell

19. The optical machine

20. Rotary demi-sphere
(1925), by Marcel
Duchamp
A glass robe
surrounded by
a copper disc
which bears an
inscription.

21. The poem-object
This is a kind of relief which
incorporates objects in the
words of a poetic declaration
so as to form a
homogeneous whole.

22. Poem-object
(1935), by André
Breton

23. The mobile and mute
object
An irritating, disconcerting
object, one element of which
moves although the
necessity for the movement
is not clearly perceptible.

24. The Hour of Traces
(1930), by Alberto
Giacometti
A wooden ball
with a notch is
suspended by
a violin string
over a
crescent.

25. The being-object

26. The Necrophile
(1964-5), by Jean
Benoît

27. Bibliography
Surrealist Art (1970),
by
Sarane Alexandrian