Automatism in philosophy, art and culture

Automatism is a complex phenomenon taking varied forms across different fields. It remains perhaps ill-defined even today, and yet its direct and indirect influences on culture and art are widespread if not immediately obvious. This essay begins with a short historical background on automatism, whose key elements were defined in writings on surrealism and art history in the 1920s and ’30s. Authored by Huat Lim, the text offers a personal reflection on the influences and significances of automatism as a creative method. An architect trained in London, Lim is now heads zlgdesign, a design firm responsible for some of Malaysia’s most outstanding examples of contemporary architecture.