Book excerpt: The emotional charge Surrealism extended to the objects of its encounter makes itself felt as at least philosophically erotic. This charged look determines the atmosphere around the Surrealist text and its encounters--in the world of art and the world it made into art. In this attempt to make sense of the way Surrealism sees, conceals, poses, and stares at its own self and the selves of others, the author examines the decors, games, portraits, transformations, and mirrorings that establish Surrealism's links to Baroque forms of representation.