The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dali (3)

(image credit)

This interpretation (below) by Tan Sertthin is pretty good, I think. Dali certainly probed the unconscious as both a source and a subject of his art. So Sertthin's references to dreams and symbolism make sense.

There is a fine line between a dream and a memory. A dream only happens when humans are in a state of sleep. A memory has the ability to appear in any time of the day in the human mind. Humans recall their memories to deal with their current situations. Memories can manifest in dreams. Dreams are memories that are distorted by fantasy. Both dream and memory reveals the state of the human’s subconscious mind. Dali’s goal is to depict coded messages that are hidden in the subconscious world. 

Salvador Dali, a surrealist painter challenged himself to portray “hand painted dream photographs”. In order to paint these images, Dali subjected himself into self-inducing hallucinations, which is a process called paranoiac- critical method. The melting and distorted clocks represent the frozen time where dreams take place. Dali mocks the human society’s view on keeping track of time by painting the powerless distorted clocks melting away in the dream world. In “reality”, time is powerful and it rules and limits the humans in their daily routine. However in a state of dreams, time is irrelevant. Dali also painted his hometown in the horizon of the image, which reveals Dali’s attempt of recollecting his childhood memories. The distorted face implanted in the middle represents the artist’s self-portrait. In the world of dreams, memories can be distorted. Dali represents the malleability of memories and dreams by painting the solids into liquid (watches) and the liquids into solids (water). The tree is inorganically grown on man-made material and the ants are eating a time piece made out of metal. The environment feels deep, lonely, quiet, and still. Humans are wired to think in one dimension. We think of time as a linear concept. We reason with cause and effect. Our perception of what is right or wrong is based on how our brain is wired. Surrealists, on the other hand, believe that the rational world that society has so much faith is ridiculous. Surrealist artists are known for humor, sarcasm, and wordplay. The word “persistent” contradicts with the image depicted- melting clocks, red ants, distorted faces, and desert symbolize desolation and decay. The combination of a sarcastic title and the strategic placement of concepts reveal Dali’s attack on the rationale.