Salvador Dali
After sparking off inspiration from doing the ink on silk experiments, I have chosen to look more into dreams and the current project, inside outside, has led me to investigate Salvador Dali. Salvador Dali was born on the 11th May 1904 in Figueres, Spain and died on the 23rd January 1989 of heart failure. He was a Spanish painter, sculpture, photographer and also dabbled in film and a range of other media. He is most famous for his surrealist work. He also worked in the styles of Futurism, Cubism and Impressionism.
The area of Salvador Dali’s work which interests me most is his first Surrealist period in 1929 when he painted with oils and created dream like paintings. Dali was inspired by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories and from this came up with his own way of working using what he called the “paranoiac-critical method”. He explained his process as a "spontaneous method of irrational understanding based upon the interpretative critical association of delirious phenomena." (Fulcrum Gallery, ca.2020). This is what I would like to use to create my own dream like imagery. By going into the unconscious mind, he enhanced his creativity. (Humboldt State University, ca 2020)
This is what I would like to use to create my own dream like imagery. By opening and exploring the unconscious mind, he enhanced his creativity. (Humboldt State University, ca 2020. Figure 2 is one of Dali’s famous double images from the surrealist movement. These were a large part of his ‘paranoiac-critical method’ of which he wrote an essay called ‘The Conquest of the Irrational’. In this landscape, Dali’s use of pastel colours in the water and sky is effective bringing a dream-like glow to the painting. It contrasts with the warm colours of the foreground, creating an evening feel to the image. The effective use of reflection is illusionary, creating elephants from swans bobbing on surface of the calm water. Dali can be seen to the left of the painting, molded and camouflaged into the cliff with his back to the centre of the painting. This is said to be a metaphor for his frustration around the surrealism movement not getting as much attention as he thought it should. If this is the case, the calm water could be a metaphor for the surrealist movement. The winding branches appear to be abstract figures and reflected in the water, make up the elephant’s legs. It almost looks like two paintings. Both Dali and Arp use methods which I would like to use in my own practice.
Dali described his paintings as “hand-painted dream photographs.” One of his favourite recurring images, bent and flowing watches, look as if they’re made of wax, melting away on a hot summer day in the desert.
"When asleep, the conscious brain disappears, and the sub- and un-conscious takes over. Images from myth and movies, from work and waking morph into odd, awe-inspiring or awful. Dali was able to harness his dream landscape and hallucinogenic imaginings – without psychotropic drugs. His sleep appears to be the dreamer dreaming the dream, supported by surreal crutches, the waking world far off in the distance, just an echo of memory.
If the artist is focused, in tune and aware, they can awake and capture the dream. Oftentimes, the dream is elusive. In its stead, a waking meditative state can harness the subconscious. When an artist, whether a painter, writer, sculptor is deep within the creative process, it produces a trance-like meditative state, where the “real” world falls away. It is replaced with a state of hyper-awareness, focusing the artist’s mind and intent, propelling the brain and body forward.
Eccentric, strange and bizarre, Salvador Dali’s genius was recognised by master in other disciplines. Dali was sought-after in the movie-making process. Famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock thought Dali perfect, employing him to create the dream sequence in his film, Spellbound, providing the perfect atmosphere for the film.
With their metaphysical leanings, Dali’s paintings invoke the mystical and mythical – the very things that resonate with the human soul." (Spear, 2018)
“A well-read student of Sigmund Freud, Salvador Dali – who never used drugs and only drank alcohol (especially champagne) in moderation – turned to a most unusual way to access his subconscious. He knew that the hypnologic state between wakefulness and sleep was possibly the most creative for a brain.
Like Freud and his fellow surrealists, he considered dreams and imagination as central rather than marginal to human thought. Dali searched for a way to stay in that creative state as long as possible just as any one of us on a lazy Saturday morning might enjoy staying in bed in a semi-awake state while we use our imagination to its fullest. He devised a most interesting technique.
Sitting in the warm sun after a full lunch and feeling somewhat somnolent, Dali would place a metal mixing bowl in his lap and hold a large spoon loosely in his hands which he folded over his chest. As he fell asleep and relaxed, the spoon would fall from his grasp into the bowl and wake him up. He would reset the arrangement continuously and thus float along-not quite asleep and not quite awake-while his imagination would churn out the images that we find so fascinating, evocative, and inexplicable when they appear in his work…” (Park West Gallery, 2010.)
Four Theories of Dreams
Brainworldmagazine.com - inside the dream mind says the past two centuries have given rise to four of the most commonly accepted dream theories:
Sigmund Freud and Wish-Fulfillment
The famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was the first to suggest that dreams may serve a particular scientific purpose. He came to believe that dreams were often a form of wish-fulfillment, the American Psychoanalytic Association says. In a dream, a subject could act out desires he or she could not fulfill in waking life. Some types of dreams, however, proved problematic within this model, such as dreams involving punishment or traumatic events. These led Freud to believe that dreams sometimes served as a way for patients to express guilt or conquer trauma. All these conjectures played into Freud’s overall (and revolutionary) theory of dreams: that they were manifestations of unconscious workings of the brain.
Carl Jung: Dreams as Direct Mental Expressions
Although Freud and Carl Jung were contemporaries, they disagreed strongly (and famously) about the nature of dreams. Freud believed that dreams, by nature, disguised their meaning. In contrast, Jung believed that dreams were actually direct expressions of the mind itself. Dreams, he thought, expressed an individual’s unconscious state through a language of symbols and metaphors. This “language” was natural to the unconscious state, but difficult to understand because it varied so much from waking language. Notably, Jung also believed that universal archetypes (or images) intrinsic to all human consciousness existed within this language. He believed that dreams served two functions: to compensate for imbalances in the dreamers’ psyche, and to provide prospective images of the future, which allowed the dreamer to anticipate future events.
REM and Activation-Synthesis
Yet another theory arose with the discovery of REM. The Activation-Synthesis theory was conceived by Harvard professors Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley in the 1970s, explains Joe Griffin of the Human Givens Institute. Hobson and McCarley discovered that during REM sleep, electrical signals called electroencephalogram recordings, or EEGs, pass through the brain. They theorized that the brain naturally reacted by attempting to make sense of the random stimulus. Thus, dreams had no intrinsic meaning; they were just a side effect of the brain’s normal activity. While this theory was revolutionary at the time, the continual advancement of technology has led to tremendous revision of this theory.
Threat Simulation Theory
Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo is one of the latest researchers to suggest a convincing theory about the function of dreams. Revonsuo found that during REM sleep, the amygdala (the fight-or-flight section of the brain) actually fires in similar ways as it does during a survival threat. “The primary function of negative dreams,” he explains, “is rehearsal for similar real events, so that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in comparable real situations.” In other words, dreams are an evolutionary trait designed to help us practice being safe.
Carl Jung Dream Theory
After reading the 4 of the above, I feel that Carl Jung's theories sits better with me and they are something I would like to research into in more detail.
Carl Jung has heavily influenced modern dream studies. A psychoanalyst based in Zurich, Switzerland, Jung (1875 -1961) was a friend and follower of Freud but soon developed his own ideas about how dreams are formed. While depth psychology has fallen out of favor in neuroscience, Jung’s ideas are still thriving in contemporary psychoanalytic circles. Popular applications directly based on Jung’s research include the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, the polygraph test, and 12-step addiction recovery programs. I have experience of both the Myers-Briggs personality Type Indicator and the 12 Step recovery program.
"The basic idea behind Jungian dream theory is that dreams reveal more than they conceal."
Dreams are a natural expression of our imagination and use the most straightforward language at our disposal: mythic narratives. Jung did not believe that dreams need to be interpreted for them to perform their function. Instead, he suggested that dreams are doing the work of integrating our conscious and unconscious lives; he called this the process of individuation. (Herd, ca.2020)
Jung believed in a dynamic interaction between the conscious and unconscious minds, in a manner quite similar to that proposed by Freud. However, as we will examine below, his concept of the psyche included elements of an unconscious mind that transcends the individual, and may be considered a combination of the spirit, or soul, and one’s thoughts and sensations. This inner psychic realm is capable of affecting the brain and its functions and, therefore, can influence one’s perception of external reality. In addition, Jung thought of the libido somewhat differently than Freud. Although Jung considered sexuality to be an important aspect of the libido, primarily he thought of libido as a more generalized life energy (Douglas, 1995; Jarvis, 2004). Jung believed that as the human species evolved, the nature of sexual (or survival) impulses transformed. For example, early in human evolution we needed, as do other species, to be able to attract mates for procreation. Over time, these attraction behaviors generalized to behaviors such as art or music. Thus, a Freudian might say that creating music is a sexual act, but according to Jung “it would be a poor, unaesthetic generalization if one were to include music in the category of sexuality” (Jung, 1916/1963).
Jung saw the mind/body/feelings (or what he called ‘the psyche’) as all working together. Even negative symptoms could be potentially helpful in drawing attention to an imbalance; for example, depression could result from an individual suppressing particular feelings or not following a path that is natural and true to their particular personality. In this way he saw the psyche as a self-regulating system with all psychic contents – thoughts, feelings, dreams, intuitions etc. – having a purpose; he thought the psyche was ‘purposive’. (West, ca.2020)
Dream Anaylsis
Outside
"To dream of being outside represents feelings of freedom, openness, or opportunities. Awareness of a situation becoming less rigid. Not having to think in one specific way. Taking action with your problems instead of just thinking or talking about them. Taking theories into action. Feeling good actualizing your goals. Feeling that there are no limits. Making progress.
Negatively, dreaming of being outside may reflect problems with avoiding complying with rules, parents, teachers, or bosses. Too much freedom and not enough respect for structure. Goofing off. Not enough time being spent on planning. Excessive spontaneity. No respect for limits. Anxiety about being stuck in the middle of a project or plan that you can’t stop or reverse.
In many dreams it may be best to focus less on the symbolism of being outside as opposed to the location you see yourself at inside the dream. Whether or not you have a roof over your head may have less significance than where you are located. For example if someone were to dream of being outside on a cliff, the cliff symbolism would most likely be more significant than being outside.
Example: A man dreamed of being inside a house and then walking outside to front porch. In waking life he was thinking of a plan to trick a criminal who had mislead him and then finally decided to take action with it.
Example 2: A man dreamed of seeing an open field filled with rainbows. In waking life he was experiencing a rush of creativity with his artwork that never seemed to stop." (Emily, 2019)
"The difference between being inside and outside in a dream emphasizes whether we are exploring private issues (inside) or whether the issue relates to making a debut or changing how we interact with others (outside.) Examining a symbol that is observed to be ‘inside’ of something else can represent what is being protected or at the core of the issue." (cafeausoul, ca.2020)
Bodies of Water and the Unconscious
"Often in dreams, large bodies of water (oceans, lakes, pools) symbolize the unconscious. As with bodies of water, we often see the surface, but cannot easily see into the depths.
Also, the vastness of the ocean symbolizes the vastness of the unconscious mind. Jung observed long ago that the unconscious mind was much vaster than the conscious portion. His insight has been confirmed by fascinating developments in neuroscience, where new technologies, such as particularly sophisticated MRIs have enabled brain scientists to see that the unconscious processes in the brain dwarf the conscious mind in magnitude.
In those regions of the brain/mind lies the meaning of dreams. Jungian therapy is always aware that, for each of us, much goes on in the depths of those oceanic waters…" (Collinson, 2012)
"In general, water represents the unconscious, the place our minds go and the thoughts we have when we're not paying attention. If you are underwater in your dream, this might indicate feeling drowned, overwhelmed, or swallowed up by unconscious thoughts, emotions, urges, or memories.In dreams, water is often associated with emotions and their expression.The surface of the water represents the dividing line between the consciousness and the unconscious. The type, shape, motion, and other characteristics of the dreamed water express the dreamer's conscious or unconscious emotions." (Sue.B,2019)
Dreams in Art History
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-historys-iconic-depictions-dreams-renaissance-surrealism
"Artists have always turned to dreams as a source of inspiration, a retreat from reason, and a space for exploring imagination and desire. In the history of photography, dreams have been most closely associated with the Surrealists, who pushed the technical limits of the medium to transform the camera's realist documents into fantastical compositions. Whereas their modernist explorations were often bound to psychoanalytic theories, more recently contemporary photographers have pursued the world of sleep and dreams through increasingly open-ended works that succeed through evocation rather than description.
This exhibition takes a cue from the artists it features by displaying a constellation of photographs that collectively evoke the experience of a waking dream. Here, a night sky composed of pills, a fragmented rainbow, a sleeping fairy-tale princess, and an alien underwater landscape illuminate hidden impulses and longings underlying contemporary life. Drawn entirely from The Met collection, Dream States features approximately 30 photographs and video works primarily from the 1970s to the present."- https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/dream-states
“Dreams are not only what we inhabit when we sleep. They are also fantasies, desires and fears, both what we are hopeful for and what we are oblivious to. Though dreams are subconscious, they are also a reflection of consciousness,” Pedro Paricio. Paricio explores ways in which artwork can become transcendental – uninfluenced by the fashions and temporary satisfactions of the present. In attempting to realise the eternal components of art historical masterpieces, Paricio endeavours to flesh out the common element, ignoring place or time. Thinking in the past, present and future, Paricio is convinced that every work of art is a wormhole that allows the viewer to travel back and forth into the history of art as stated by Paricio himself, “a work of art is not only today, it is simultaneously yesterday and tomorrow.”- https://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/pedro-paricio-dreams
My Own Dream Analysis
After completing my research on dreams, it has inspired me to analyse my own dreams, repressed emotions and past experiences and portray this through the means of artistic impression. Having found that I have recurring dreams of control in one way, I have also found that these dreams are often anxiety dreams. They usually consist of water, which after doing some research I have found out that water can represent deep emotions and the unconscious. I want to try and portray this through the casting and moulding process by using a glass bottle of a woman's torso, my hand and liquid. The hand Woman's torso bottle represents myself and the liquid inside represents my emotions. I want to experiment with different colours relating back to my colour theory research on how different colours represent different emotions. The hand around the bottle is my own hand trying to get a grip of my own emotions, asserting control over myself or even someone else asserting control over me and feeling powerless.
Problems that I have encountered whilst doing this research is that it has taken me well away from my original theme of mental health and wanting to challenge a stigmatisation around mental health. I will see how I get on with the experiment.
References:
Cafe au Soul, ca.2020. Dream Dictionary [online]. Available from: https://cafeausoul.com/dreams/dreamdictionary/Inside
Crystal Spear, 2018.The Dream Paintings of Salvador Dali [online]. Over stock Art. Available from: https://www.overstockart.com/blog/the-dream-paintings-of-salvador-dali/ [Accessed:7 January 2020)
Park West Gallery, 2010. Freud’s Influence on Dali’s Surreal “Dream” Painting [online]
Available from: https://www.parkwestgallery.com/freuds-influence-on-dalis-surreal-dream-painting/. [Accessed: 15 January 2020]
RYAN HURD, ca.2020. The Dream Theories of Carl Jung [online]. Dream Studies Portal. Available from: https://dreamstudies.org/2009/11/25/carl-jung-dream-interpretation/ [Accessed: 16 January 2020]
Marcus West, ca.2020. Jung and dreams [online]. The Society of Analytical Psychology. Available from: https://www.thesap.org.uk/resources/articles-on-jungian-psychology-2/carl-gustav-jung/dreams/ [Accessed: 16 January 2020]
Emily, 2019. Outisde dreams meaning [online]. Dream Dictionary. Available from: https://www.dreams.metroeve.com/outside/#.XiB5TS2ca3c [Accessed: 16 January 2020]
Brian Collinson, 2012. Jungian Therapy & the Meaning of Dreams, 5:Water. [online]. Available from: https://www.briancollinson.ca/index.php/2012/11/jungian-therapy-the-meaning-of-dreams-5-water.html
Sue.B, 2019. Dreaming of Water: What Does It Really Mean? [online] Exemplore. Available from: https://exemplore.com/dreams/Dreaming-of-Water-The-Meaning-of-Water-in-Dreams
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