The term realism is, by its very nature, a complex and controversial one and its various contemporary applications have been met by either confusion, indifference, or charges of irrelevance.1 At the heart of realism is the view that there exists a reality beyond that of surface appearances and which exists independently of consciousness but is simultaneously graspable by consciousness. Moreover, realists argue 'for an understanding of the relationship between social structures and human agency that is based upon a transformational conception of social reality.'2

The overall aim of this paper will be to assess what is meant by these definitions of realism, investigate specific attempts to apply it in the realm of art and assess how this formulates the basis for my own creative practice.

Part One looks at the various definitions of realism and charts some of the issues which surround it. It will aim to show that realism itself is a fairly complex term and that it will need some theoretical work in order to map out various properties. Here I will identify the realism, specifically defined as critical realism, which forms the foundation for my own approach and emphasise why it is still an important philosophical category.

Part Two will consist of an investigation of realism and its influence in the realm of art by specifically focusing on the technique of montage with particular reference to three applications of it made during the inter-war period. These practices will be assessed in conjunction with the theoretical developments of the time. It will thus consider the montage practices of John Heartfield, Fernand Léger and Sergei Eisenstein and will be underpinned by a brief account of the theoretical debates around realism conducted between Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht and Georg Lukács. It is here that we will see, as Raymond Williams points out, when it comes to the question of defining a realist art practice and its subsequent claim that 'the business of art is, first and foremost, to show thing as they really are....it does not end, but only begins the controversy in art and literature.'3 The problems of defining an effective realist art practice will become clear in this section, with each of the practitioners and theorists discussed holding different views of what actually constitutes realism. It will be made clear in this section that the problems of defining a realist art practice are inherent to realism itself. As Paul Wood suggests, realism:

seems to suggest an orientation on, rather than a direct connection with, reality. In fact, competing definitions of reality are at stake. In a world where different realities are perceived very differently by different interest groups, where there is constant process of struggle against hegemonic definitions of what the world is like, 'Realism' is always going to reverberate beyond some bare conception of 'style of art.'4

In talking about this period, I will be discussing the opposing formulations of realism as represented by the Stalinist socialist realist on one hand and leftist avant-garde positions on the other and explain why these differences are so significant. The socialist realist formulation that 'art is at its most progressive when it is showing recognisable people, doing recognisable things in recognisable settings.....and is therefore more 'accessible' and politically accountable than other forms'5 and the leftist avant-garde's understanding that realism was not just about how the work relates to the 'surface appearance of things' but how in effect it 'reveals the underlying essences'6 will be explored.

The overall aim of discussing the practices and debates of that mid-war period is that they have a central role to play in helping to formulate and reclaim the ground for developing what might be considered a contemporary critically realist art practice. Moreover, it can be seen that the importance of continuing to discuss notions of a critical realist practice is particularly urgent with the dominance of post-modernism partially represented by formulations such as the 'The End of History'7 and the irredeemable 'loss of the real'8 which threatens to neutralise any capacity for realism and it's attempt to 'reveal the real'.

The aim of Part Three will be to consider montage as a contemporary realist device which will be discussed in particular reference to my own practical work. It will thus map some of the contemporary theoretical considerations that have informed my own montage practice and discuss an example of that practice. In doing so, this section will briefly re-cap some of the central notions of realism most pertinent to this enquiry that have developed as a result of Parts One and Two. It will then move on to discuss the potential use of montage as a contemporary realist device. Here I will discuss notions of popular form and popular engagement and suggest that the pervasiveness of sophisticated montage practices in the realm of advertising may have facilitated the potential renewal of montage as a critical device. Considerations will also be made here of the significance of the emerging digital technologies, both in terms of the debates about the 'loss of indexicality' of the photographic image and in its potential as creative tool. These formulations will then provide the foundations to bring the practical component of my research project into the discussion. Here I will specifically focus on one example of the digital realist montagist work which I have produced. I will do so by describing my production method, discuss what the work aims to organise and explain how this might allow it to create a realist effect.

Footnotes

1 The latter of these points is generally represented by the position of postmodernism where any attempt to map reality in a coherent way (and therefore open to transformation) is doomed to failure, being a 'patently outmoded and discredited set of ...ideas'. Norris, C, 1996, p 181

2 Bhaskar, R, 1989, p 3

3 William, R, 1976, p 218

4 Wood, P, 1994, p 254

5 Roberts, J, 1992, p 196

6 ibid. p 65

7 Francis Fukuyama's essay 'The End of History' (later re-issued as The End of History and the Last Man 1992) seeks to naturalise capitalism's world domination as part of a universal evolutionism. See Fukuyama, 1992

8 This position is best represented by Baudrillard with, according to Christopher Norris, his 'sweeping pronouncements about the demise of truth, the eclipse of the real, the irrelevance of theory, the obsolescence of critique, the collapse of all distinctions between fact and falsehood, knowledge and ignorance, episteme and doxa, science and ideology.' Norris, C, 1996, P 183-4