The Persistence of Memory
The Persistence of Memory is a painting by Salvador Dali done in 1931. Salvador Dali is a surrealist and has a keen interest to explore the unconscious mind. In the Persistence of Memory, he utilizes the surrealism tenants to bring out an iconic painting. The painting consists of a soft watch or a melting clock, a deformed face, a flying insect, and an ant. The soft watch represents a melting milk cheese draping over a hard surface which symbolizes the unpredictable movement of time. Deformed face in the picture is Dali’s self-portrait, more like a fade image that one sees in a dream where the dreamer cannot precisely show the creatures form or composition. The golden clock is covered with ants that symbolize decay. The paints signify how irrelevant and useless our concept on time is inside a dream state. That is why the pocket watch is melting away since it has no power in the dream world. Surrealist believe that the rational mind represses humans from the power of imagination and weight it down with taboos. Just like how humans are always in a rush and busy to get all activities on time, they place too much importance on pocket watches to keep time. The painting is something I will remember due to creativity in the art.