Grace Collins Week 7 DESMA9

Week 7: Dreams + Art

“95% of what we dream is forgotten,” according to Professor Vesna in this week’s lecture. This lecture brings up ideas between the unconscious and the conscious mind. Sigmund Freud, described the two as being an iceberg. You have stuff above the surface, but also below the surface. Dreams can occur in various sleep stages, typically in the REM stage (rapid eye movement) and are said to be reflections of our hidden emotions, our subconscious mind. 



The depiction of dreams, through art, has occurred for thousands of years, from early art, musical representations, artificial intelligence,and other art forms today. For artist Raphaël and other artists of his time, dreams allowed them to, “completely leave themselves in order to experience another world” according to Artsper Magazine. Another artist, in recent years, Janet Echelman created an installation in West Hollywood a few years back. She created a dreamcatcher that consisted of fiber netting reaching 90 feet tall. Her work also includes research on brain waves and she describes the ideas that dreams are social and cultural experiences. Lastly, the installation is impacted by wind and light. The fibers move, suggesting the uncontrollable nature of the subconscious. 





Work Cited:

ASA Authors & ReviewersSleep Physician at American Sleep Association Reviewers and WritersBoard-certified sleep M.D. physicians. “Psychology of Dreams: What They Mean.” American Sleep Association, https://www.sleepassociation.org/about-sleep/dreams/. 

“City of West Hollywood.” News | City of West Hollywood, 17 Dec. 2017, https://www.weho.org/Home/Components/News/News/7329/. 

“Dreams throughout Art.” Artsper Magazine, 3 May 2022, https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/dreams-throughout-art/. 

Gardner, Howard. “Art, Mind, and Brain: A Cognitive Approach to Creativity.” Google Books, Basic Books, 1 Aug. 2008, https://books.google.com/books/about/Art_Mind_And_Brain.html?id=2BMDYRRF1WcC. 

Mcleod, Saul. “Freud and the Unconscious Mind.” Unconscious Mind | Simply Psychology, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html. 

Images:

“Jacob's Dream by Raphael 1518.” Totally History, https://totallyhistory.com/raphael-paintings/jacobs-dream-by-raphael-1518/. 

“Dream Catcher, West Hollywood, CA, 2017.” Janet Echelman, https://www.echelman.com/project/west-hollywood. 

“What Dream about Iceberg Means.” What Dream About Iceberg Means, https://checkmydream.com/dream-meaning/iceberg. 


Comments

  1. Shreesh AgarwalMay 14, 2022 at 1:27 PM

    Hi Grace, I really liked the art pieces you mentioned in your blog and how they use form and color to illustrate the complex physical as well as philosophical nature of the human mind. The subject of dreams, despite being a product of the self, are beyond our control and I love how the Janet Echelman installation illustrates the uncontrollable nature of dreams. The wind and other natural forces could symbolize our thoughts, desires, and other external stimuli which have an unpredictable impact on our subconscious (the fibres)

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  2. Jack FilbyMay 15, 2022 at 6:17 PM

    Hi Grace, I really enjoyed reading and learning more through your blog post this week. I think the dream catcher that Janet made and that you brought up is one that is quite interesting. It's fair to say that everyone is so fascinated with dreams and how sleep works. The idea of using a dream catcher using fibers is unique is one of the many ways we as humans are trying to understand whats truly going on and trying to retain and learn from each dream. Having the fibers move and have that mean something is also interesting.

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