50 Times People Accidentally Noticed Surreal Things In Real Life, So They Shared It On This Online Group
Here we are, stuck between dreams and reality. Look around you, Pandas. On the one hand, you’re surrounded by everything that’s familiar, real, recognizable. But as you take a closer peek, you might notice just how odd, how surreal the world can be and it’s not always clear if we’re awake or if our imaginations are playing impish tricks on us.
What we have in store for you today is something special. We’re featuring the ‘Accidental Surrealism’ subreddit, an art and photography-loving online community that shares pics of things that, well, accidentally look like surreal art. Even though the premise is straightforward, the photos are anything but. They will challenge your perception of reality and, hopefully, will inspire you to look at your own surroundings in a different light.
Make sure to keep a strong grip on what’s real as you scroll down, Pandas. Don’t forget to upvote the photos that you enjoyed the most, go visit r/accidentalsurrealism if you enjoyed yourselves, and last but not least: if everything starts melting, keep an eye out for the ghost of Salvador Dalí.
Former art gallery director and art expert Shelby Bercume, from Florida, enlightened Bored Panda about surrealism and Dalí. You'll find out what she had to say if you scroll down, dear Pandas.
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Tried To Take A Panoramic Picture Of The Eiffel Tower Today, It Went Surprisingly Well!
"As global warming continues, some buildings may start to melt and collapse, like the Eiffel Tower pictured above. The police have evacuated the area and are setting up industrial fans to try and cool the structure down. Back to you, Steve." Jk...
According to former art gallery director Shelby, every art movement focuses on something different. "The reason surrealism is so recognizable is that the subject matter reflects the inner workings of the subconscious," she told Bored Panda. "That’s why the images are considered dream-like because, in actuality, they are dreams and hallucinations."
Although surrealism is instantly recognizable for many, Shelby doesn't believe that we wouldn't be able to mix it up with some other art movements. "There are always overlaps," she said, alluding to the Dada movement which some confuse for surrealism. "But it definitely has a flavor."
Clouds In Harrodsburg, Kentucky. No Filter
Thanks for this cloud name info. It led me to several wonderful pictures, as well as The Cloud Appreciation Society. Awesome!
Load More Replies..."An unexpected result of global climate change: icebergs got lighter than air and now the wind can blow them over here. More on what it means for the local birdlife and air traffic safety on WKYT tonight at six."
lol. Don't write that down too often, some of those madcap chemtrail antivaxx conspiracy nutjobs will believe it :D
Load More Replies...Oil On The Ground
Besides the oil on the ground lol.
Load More Replies...This is honestly such a great photograph and I would happily frame it on my wall!
The art expert also ruminated about the success of Dalí. "The popularity of Dalí, mostly due to his wife Gala’s business sense, is what makes surrealism so recognizable. It had significant exposure to people that otherwise wouldn’t have known what it is," she mused about part of the reasons why the artist became so widely known.
Shelby added: "Dalí's popularity was also due to his eccentric behavior and incredibly famous friends coupled with the time. Basically, all the ingredients were there for Dalí to take flight, and surrealism was thrust into the spotlight as part of a consequence."
Shadow
...which, with the right calculations, could also tell time, like a huge sundial.
Load More Replies...Instead of playing where's "Wally (Waldo)", you could play "Where's Beetlejuice."
Thats cool, but I can feel the migraine winding up looking at it. Dont think I would make it seeing it for real.
I agree, it's triggering my Trypophobia (which isn't just about too many holes for me.)
Load More Replies...Breaking news: An unfinished (undressed) building was arrested for indecent exposure. Here is a photo taken of it in it's prison stripes. We will update as more information comes in. Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled programs.
Anyone ever tell you that you may have a form of Trypophobia? I do and it hurts mine too.
Load More Replies...Transit
There is no way that none of these would not overlap even slightly. It's shopped. Nice but doesn't belong here.
Aww, I thought it was real. It's so cool. But yeah, makes no sense that none of them overlap.
Load More Replies...Yeah, clearly the shadows are unrealistic and the ground is blurry where they erased, cut/copied, and resized. Cool composition regardless
Load More Replies...I can actually pinpoint the couple repeat copy paste birds, even though they're flipped, slightly stretched, etc. Look at the "couple birds" near each other, who are lifting one foot (so it doesnt touch the shadow), and their beaks are looking back at the camera at a specific angle, and their tails touch their tail shadows. That one i can definitely identify as one of the birds used repeatedly for this photoshopped image. It's cool looking, though. It's just not naturally occurring.
There is a similar photo of Camels parading across a desert. Which is the animal and which is the shadow?
Snowy Beach In Hokkaido, Japan
Good question. But I've witnessed such things myself as well. I guess.... it's just THAT cold.
Load More Replies...What a stunningly beautiful landscape-- like something out of a fantasy novel.
How was this pic taken? Was the person in the center of the pic flying a drone?
Snow is snow, it's not uncomfortable if you have warm clothes. It doesn't have waves coming towards you like the sea. It just is, until it melts. Snow can actually be very comfortable and calming. *it's snowing here today, first time this autumn*
Weeeeell..... there are such things as avalanches. You could call them "waves"
Load More Replies...Surrealism was a movement in visual art and literature that flourished in Europe between the First and Second World Wars. Largely influenced by the Dada movement and anti-art ideas that came before, surrealism was a reaction to the destruction brought about by ‘rationalism’ and the brutality of massive-scale warfare.
Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that poet and critic André Breton, the publisher of The Surrealist Manifesto, saw the movement as “reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world.” The end result would be “an absolute reality, a surreality.”
Surrealist art, photography, and literature can seem illogical or even unnerving as the creators delve deeper and deeper into the unconscious mind and how it entangles cold, hard reality. Surrealism is meant to surprise, shock the viewer, present them with an alternative way of looking at the world. In a way, you can’t have surrealism without stepping outside the box of your own comfort and realizing that rationalism is limited.
Picture Of Building As Reflected In Broken Mirror On Pavement
Okay, who's been folding the multiverse again? It was you, Dr. Strange, wasn't it?
This reminds me of Cat in the Hat, when they go into that box thing and everything is messed up like this.
Swimming Pool Untouched By Dirty Flood Water
I work with miniatures. These are miniatures with a cool photo while standing above the layout.
About time there was a "Naysayer". Couldn't believe it lasted this long!!!
Load More Replies...Hail In Crop Netting
I've seen *some* hail on trampolines, but this here is absolutely massive.
Load More Replies...At least that's normal. I thought it was a giant floating albino garlic clove.
Load More Replies...It's hard to find what scale you're looking at :) My first impression was some huge artworks.
I thought the trees were mountains and the middle part was a valley at first glance, so you can imagine my confusion!
Load More Replies...Crop a little off the top and nobody would have a clue what they were looking at.
Even with the picture being while, I still didn't have a clue what I was looking at 🤔
Load More Replies...Alien pods. Call a xenobiologist and a xenolinguist. Maybe they are trying to tell us something.
The ‘Accidental Surrealism’ online group is a niche subreddit, home to just over 19.7k members. Personally, I think that the subreddit deserves to have a lot more attention, considering just how creative the content it shares really is. The group has been active since January of 2016 and we’re hoping that they’ll stick around for at least another 5 years (and more!).
The subreddit has a single moderator busily working behind the curtain of the stage, helping keep everything in check.
The Way This Snow Has Slid Down The Slide
I was wondering why looking at it made me salivate a little. This is why.
Load More Replies...Had something like this happen on my car. The slow-melt-and-refreeze effect caused a 16" shelf of snow to slowly grow straight off the passenger side of my roof. I was creeping around town with a 16" rectangular jut of snow hanging off my car, boldly defying gravity, completely smooth and flat on the bottom, parallel to the ground.
If you guys don't want to play with me, well then I'm just going to fold up my slide and go home! So there!
These Are Called Scud Clouds. This Was Recently Captured In South Carolina
Is a flock of tornados a flock of seagulls screamo cover band?
Load More Replies...My Scarf Accidentally Matched My Hotel Carpet
Literally all I could think was "get up get up GET UP"
Load More Replies...My first thought too. I don't even walk barefoot on hotel floors.
Load More Replies...Cool! Now remove clothing, place in plastic bag and dispose in nearest trash receptacle.
The scarf is interesting and all. But it's your laying on that floor that blows the mind.
Reminds me of the time I brought a black light and polarizing lens (I worked with glass and it was part of my toolkit) to the hotel and out of curiosity I fired it up. I really wished I didn't. Not only the floors, I now use combat boots as slippers, but the duvet was a giant splotch. This was a $250 a night room in 1992, not cheap.
I’m not saying hotel rooms are the cleanest places, but the common idea that anything that shows up is a bodily fluid is not entirely correct. Detergent whitening agents show up on black light and the big splotch could be where the detergent initially hit before washing. Would show up on a carpet like that too. Also stuff can show up on a black light no matter how much you wash them. Did you ever try the black light at your house? Seeing splotches in a hotel room doesn’t necessarily mean people are just jizzing all over the walls and floors and duvets. Though that can happen. I went on some tour stops with a band once.
Load More Replies...In terms of content, r/accidentalsurrealism is very similar to r/accidentalart and r/AccidentalArtGallery. However, those of you Pandas who know your way around the internet might notice that there’s more than just a passing resemblance to the r/AccidentalRenaissance subreddit that Bored Panda has featured time and again. The idea—stumbling upon something art-related by pure happenstance—is the same; the art movement is different.
A Mosaic In Turkey Being Excavated That’s Been Rippled By Earthquakes
The thought of having to pick up all those pieces and then put them down again somewhere else makes me want to cry.
They're usually lifted in large sheets, not piece by piece.
Load More Replies...I Thought That Was The Ocean
There was that one scene in the movie "2012". Crappy movie except for the scenes of destruction.
Load More Replies...😂 Glad I'm not the only one who thought of Interstellar instead of 2012!
Load More Replies...Georgia I believe. Gergeti Trinity church. I was there - it's wonderful :)
Load More Replies...An Accidental Skyline
‘Accidental Surrealism’ has only two rules that members need to follow (well, alongside all the regulations requiring you to be civil that you agreed to the moment you signed up to Reddit). The first rule is fairly straightforward: the surrealism in your photo has to be accidental. It can’t be deliberate! If you stage things to farm karma and get awesome comments, you’re missing the point.
The second rule is slightly murkier, however. Your photos have to “fit the criteria for surrealism,” but the subreddit’s mod notes that “this is subjective.”
Coudscape/Snowscape
Yes... mackerel skies and mares tails means changing weather
Load More Replies...Yep, it's triggering my Trypophobia too. (It's not just for holes with me.)
Load More Replies...I absolutely lo-ove it when nitpickers mis-spell while "correcting" others 😹🤣😹🤣😹🤣😹🤣😹
Load More Replies...5000 Litres Of Spilled Ink
Let's hope it's not the terrible kind. Many inks are somewhat fine nowadays. Because it looks very pretty...
Load More Replies...If the street was the printer it would still say "no ink i cannot print"
Load More Replies...One is careless. 3 is a disaster. But it looks like 7 separate flows of ink, so I'm thinking this was malicous.
Police suspect that someone deliberately tampered with the containers that held the ink.
Load More Replies...Call all the schools in town! It will be the most epic finger paint party ever.
Entrance Of The Underwater Observatory In Zug
Earlier, Bored Panda spoke to art historian and creator of educational videos, Mary McGillivray. According to her, a lot of people have a perception about art and art history that stops them from delving into the topics headfirst.
“A lot of people think that art history is very serious and very important and this leads to them feeling overwhelmed—or even feeling like art history isn't for them. This isn't true!” Mary told me during a previous interview. “I've said it before and I'll say it again, art history is just old memes. Once we start to see the humor and the humanity in art, it becomes far less intimidating.”
Reflections
I love how the dirt on the road makes it look like a clear, stary sky.
This Sculpture Of Kids Swinging From A No Longer Existing Tree
Yeah, cause there's actually a tree stump right behind the sculpture. Looks to be freshly hewn.
Load More Replies...For a second, I wondered what was holding her in the air. Only a second.
Clam Covered Mannequin Head That Washed Up On Shore
...if they're still alive. Otherwise it's re-polluting.
Load More Replies...Looks amazing. This should be turned into an artpiece and displayed in an art exibition
agreed, except....it will probably smell like dead crap! bummer, cause its sooooo cool!
Load More Replies...Meanwhile, former gallery director and art expert Shelby told Bored Panda a bit earlier that art history can often be “intimidating and difficult to grasp” for those without a background in it because it’s a subject that far from every school teaches. If schools took a more proactive approach to art history, there might be many more experts in the field and far more online groups like r/accidentalsurrealism.
A Hole On The Hill
and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round (was just thinking about that song)
Load More Replies...I’m pretty sure I’ve been there. It’s a crater lake on a volcano in Iceland.
Load More Replies...Hopefully I’m In The Right Place—the Way The Sunset Hit The Scaffolding Just Mesmerized Me
This looks like an open world game when you sprint too far too fast and the game hasn't completely loaded that local.
Google Street View
I love the way his pants are so beautifully tailored to take into account his three legs.
Yes they tailored a pants for three legs but we can't have simple pockets!!🙄🙄🙄
Load More Replies...This pic made me think of a song my mom used to sing about a man who ran off with Peg Leg Johnson's wife, taking the guy's wooden leg with him so the guy couldn't follow them. The chorus went, "I'm a three-legged man with a two-legged woman being chased cross country by a one-legged foot! And it's hoppin' and it's cloppin', and it shows no sign of stoppin', I tell you, boys, this life is hard and cruel!" LOL!
Tailors nightmare. On which side do you dress sir, Left, Left of centre, Centre, Right of centre or Right? ;o)
"Hangside?" Samarai Tailor, another old SNL sketch, with John Belushi.
Load More Replies...This picture was taken by Google on May 2019 at 18 Adrian Ave, Toronto, Ontario
"I don’t necessarily think art history is an inaccessible entity, but I know that people tend to feel intimidated by things they aren’t experts in. Since art is often, if not always subjective, it feels even more intimidating than a subject with a 'right answer,' like math for example. I think often that leads to a disconnect between the desire to dive into the subject of art and by relation art history, and the execution of it,” art expert Shelby explained to Bored Panda.
Itap Of Well Trimmed Trees And Bushes In Fog, Creating A Mondrian-Like Composition
If I had taken that picture, I'd have it printed, framed, and hang it in my appartment. That's a really cool one!
I'm pretty sure those are the gardens of Schönbrunn palace in Vienna. Everything there is trimmed into exact forms.
Load More Replies...Brick Wall Worn Down By The Sea
I have a small piece of brick wall like this that washed up on the Chicago shore of Lake Michigan! It's a treasure!
A Train Car In Minnesota Carrying Corn Had A Leak
Deer, squirrels, raccoons and a host of animals. Not necessarily rodentia.
Load More Replies...Follow to an empty tanker!! I'll bet someone's gonna be pissed at the end of that ride!
Load More Replies...I imagine the workers opening the container to unload and going, “Wait, it’s empty?”
In Shelby’s opinion, art shouldn’t be exclusionary: it should be accessible to everyone, no matter their background or education. “Art is something to be enjoyed and shouldn’t be reserved for an exclusive group," she said.
"Art is aesthetics and feelings. If you love something, voice why you love it... if you can’t find the words, that’s ok! Talking about art is really discussing how the art affects your emotional state and what thoughts it provokes," former art gallery director Shelby said.
Yellow Yukon At Work Today Felt Bad Peeling It
Sometimes I Keep Myself Company
They've been waiting so long even their ghost hasn't heard their name yet
A phenomenon called "Pepper's Ghost." Used to be used in theatre productions. Google it.
The Sky Is The Limit
The weirdest UFO ever: "We are coming from planet IKEA. There are the assembly instructions of our "The Universe and Everything" set missing from your box. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
42? That's the whole instructions? And what happened to the dolphins?
Load More Replies...I think it's taken from a window and the lamp is the reflection on the window (just a guess)
Load More Replies...I've seen lots of UFO nuts post photos of kitchen lights being reflected in windows. The sheer idiocy of it.
Lmao i thought the same thing! Are you a designer too?
Load More Replies...Oh, you're right, I should have waited till after I smoked to read this. Is awesome.
Load More Replies...I took a picture like this. Looked like there was a UFO over my neighbor's house.
"And remember, it is ok to not love everything, believe it or not, certain artworks are meant to be disturbing or disliked. Just don’t be intimidated to speak up because that’s really all we’re doing when we talk about art. We’re voicing opinions."
Nagabeta Seabed Road - Japan
There is a place where the sidewalk ends / And before the street begins, / And there the grass grows soft and white, / And there the sun burns crimson bright, / And there the moon-bird rests from his flight / To cool in the peppermint wind. / Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black / And the dark street winds and bends. / Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow / We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, / And watch where the chalk-white arrows go / To the place where the sidewalk ends. / Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, / And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, / For the children, they mark, and the children, they know / The place where the sidewalk ends.
Load More Replies...I've had dreams where I am driving a car and the road slowly sinks under the ocean while I continue driving wondering where the road went.
I have that dream a lot! I'm on the north most end of the island I was born on, driving a road that goes underwater, just driving calmly wondering why it's made like this.
Load More Replies...Is the road navigable at low tide? There are places like that, there's even a natural high-tide path to an offshore island in Bar Harbor.
Load More Replies...Ladders
which is why, at only a certain time of certain days, the shadow thief can break into any apartment in the building.
Soo cool looking! I had to enlarge to see if there were steps at all! Lol
This Is Not A Duck
A marauding mallard from the wild visiting an empty exhibit. He knows he can be in there without fear of being eaten.
Top Of A Shipping Container
A mini ecosystem! This is how we know the wheels of nature will keep on turning long after the human race has extincted itself
Reminds me of the tiny civilization that grew on Bender (from Futurama) when he was drifting through outer space.
Load More Replies...Once "the industry" is done with them, they are reused as storage sheds, outbuildings and even homes. So it may have been sitting for a long time.
Load More Replies...Silver Water
All I could find on this: This is because the sun and the camera make the same angle to the water surface. We're just seeing the sun's reflection on the water. The reflection appears to takes up so much area because the camera is actually very far away and is using a lot of magnification (makeing the sun look larger).
Woah
That's insane! I had to look at this for a good minute to figure it out!
Took ages but look at the signs in the right. Basically garage flooded and reflecting ceiling. There is no down ramp.
Load More Replies...I made this pic explaining it when this pic was posted here last month 6123930646...bf1996.jpg
It took me quite a while to get it… To those with no clue, it's a flooded car park with pretty low ceiling. The grounds behind the yellow-and-white hump are flooded. The dark line in the middle of the wall is just above water level, those beneath are reflections. Still can't get it? Cover the left half of the photo.
That doesn’t really explain it. Still doesn’t make sense.
Load More Replies...I am grasping the flood water and reflection, but the car just isn't making sense, yet.
Melting Street During A Heatwave In India
I don't think the zebra is going to live with a flesh wound like that.
Load More Replies...they do, sometimes... I've seen photos of bike tires stuck to the road... here's some melted truck tires in Australia tires2.jpg
But how??? ( also completely off topic but why would you wear long sleeves in a heat wave)
I'm in Florida, where we have months of 95℉ plus, with really high humidity. I wear long sleeves and long pants every day. You get used to it, and skin cancer is a bitch. It isn't that uncommon, many of the people here, who are outside a lot, stay pretty covered up.
Load More Replies...Shed Overturned By A Tornado
Or... world overturned by tornado... and the shed is completely fine... (twilight zone soundtrack)
I don't have a shed anymore, it tipped over. That's a King of the Hill reference.
A Nj Rollercoaster Got Tossed Into The Ocean By Hurricane Sandy In 2012
Here we go, kids. Don't forget to hold your breath at the bottom of the runs.
I disagree. That was when we had a storm and the water rose up to the roller coaster. mc
I was trying to imagine it according to the description, and it could not have ended up there so neatly
Birds Eye View Of A Ship Being Cleaned
Ennui Yields To Art
Because the office can’t properly crush your soul if you’re surrounded by beauty…
better to preserve it that drill a bunch of holes to install all the required lighting i guess
Load More Replies...This is what pulsates above the ceiling tiles in the backrooms. Catching a glimpse of it makes you insane.
The false ceiling should be torn down and reveal the beauty above..
as an hvac man in NYC ive seen this done in hundreds of buildings.. even drilling right thru them and chipping thru them to get hangers for new duct and ceilings. times changes as well as well as preferences. they rarely get changed back
Drop ceilings should be taken out everywhere. I know it's cheaper to heat, but it absolutely HATE them. I know they don't all have masterpieces behind them, but I'll take whatever it is.
Top Down, Bottom Up
So now just a weight pulling the cables down, instead of holding them up?
There will be a marked sag on that span, but yes, it is being held up by the adjacent poles.
Load More Replies...Cigarette tossed out of a car? Seriously, does anyone know the story?
Load More Replies...lightning! at least, ive seen one once where that was why
Load More Replies...It's a good idea to read the comments before posting.
Load More Replies...What Do You Think Of This Piece?
Itap Of These Two Carts, Half Submerged
I already lost mine somewhere in this article, just getting into the negatives now.
Load More Replies...Hilarious book from a guy from my hometown. like a nature guide. 51F0G6TS3P...cedb42.jpg
There's that stupid "ITAP" again!! Must admit they looks strange in the water!
The Persistence Of Garbage
your title for this 'art piece' deserves so much more than just a 'like'.....well done!
Load More Replies...Road To Nowhere
It's easy to forget that asphalt is basically just a layer melted on top of packed gravel.
Childhood And Adulthood
A flat earther's wet dream! The edge of the world finally discovered.
😆 cats would've pushed everything off already tho
Load More Replies...Person took a panoramic picture and rotated the phone while doing so.
Load More Replies...It's taken as a panorama, and the stitching obviously failed due to all the movement (and due to op rotating the phone. – maybe he had it set to panorama on accident and didn't realize). The phone just did what it was told to do. 1. You set the camera app to take a panorama. 2. Then while taking the panorama, rotate the phone 90 degrees and hope it looks cool. - explained by @Dead Panda
Load More Replies...These Floorboards At My Airbnb
Wherever You’d Like To Go
A better one i hope cause this one in the photo looks so depressing
Load More Replies...Escher's Ladder
Castle In The Sky
The Chick Doth Protest
Signs In The Desert
Tripping While Attempting A Panorama
Abandoned Phone Booths
Lex Luthor's plan to thwart Superman once and for all was surprisingly simple. How will our hero save the day when he has nowhere to change into his costume??
They don't look abandoned. They look like they were picked up and stored someplace because they lack utility. Abandoned would be phone booths on the side of the road.
I feel like something useful could be done with them. Like, maybe a few could be joined into a single cabin and they could at least be cold weather shelters for people or animals or something.
Nope, they are "out of date", because no-one used them any longer. It's Germany btw. 😊
Load More Replies...The Streets Of Hong Kong After Being Sprayed With A Blue Dye Water Cannon
So that the Chinese Communist Party officials and police, can identify protesters. Any protesters there, would also be dyed blue, making them easy to identify and arrest.
The blue dye was to make it so any people the HKPD had hit with the water cannon would be easily identifiable for arrest after the crowds were dispersed
Load More Replies...Please tell me that the dye isn't so protesters are marked and easier to identify after the fact...
A Melted Timer
Pickup Sticks
Time Is Fleeting...
Hey this is not bad at all! Is the watch supposed to be like that or did the face malfunction?
Wow, I feel like I was on some mind altering substances while looking at these.
The world can be so awesome!!! As the saying, "Nature is the best artist"!!!!!!! I totally agree! :D
Wow, I feel like I was on some mind altering substances while looking at these.
The world can be so awesome!!! As the saying, "Nature is the best artist"!!!!!!! I totally agree! :D
