automatism in philosophy, art & 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.