Hot August rain is hammering away as we put together random pieces of conscious and unconscious thought here in Jay Peak Winter Magazine World. Designers have suggested we run stories, images and layouts through the prism of surrealism; the definition of which goes something like this; the creative potential found in the unconscious mind and through the irrational juxtaposition of words, ideas and images. Irrational? This is something we can get behind.
Surrealists, as goes their philosophy, believed that ordinary and depictive expressions are vital and important, but that the sense of their arrangement must be open to the full range of imagination according to the Hegelian Dialectic. Before things get too Greek here, let’s explain that as the construct of an argument passing through a negative filter on its way toward mediation (sort of how the more delicately educated have argued against our fundraising approaches as of late).
The Surrealists sought to resolve the contradictory conditions of dream and reality and they embraced idiosyncrasies and rejected the idea that, for instance, you’d have to be mad to paint a green apple across the face of a man in a bowler hat (Magritte) or put a 60,000 square foot waterpark dab smack in the middle of ski resort (Stenger). The small space created by the opposing forces of dream and reality is where, they believed, lived the truth. Ruth.
Oddly connected thoughts and images aside, the 2014-2015 version of a Jay Peak Winter vacation is as surreal as ever and is perfectly evidenced by our lineup of features just a few pages forward. Check out what happens when fantasy crashes headlong into reality in The Rescue on page 12 and the metaphorically surreal layout of our new Stateside Recreation Center on page 18. Megan Robidoux testifies as to her realities on page 33 across our In Defense of Wandering piece and for those that navigate the altogether unreal spaces of social media, page 44 will net you a look at How To Win Facebook Friends and Instagram People. In between we offer loosely connected scraps of moment minding, Jay Peak finding, and the easiest way to book a vacation you’ll both remember and never forget. We’re still not sure of the nuance between the two, but it’s probably important. We hope you like the magazine and enjoy whatever moments you get to spend here this season.
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