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Time as a not so fixed entity
The Persistence of Memory: Painting by Dali ImageMany highly acclaimed artists came from Spain. Therefore, it is no surprise that Madrid houses three great art museums. As you walk down the Paseo del Prado you find first the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, you keep going and se the newer Centro Del Arte Reina Sofia. Last, but not least you see the Museo Del Prado. As a part of our Spanish acculturation, the school required us to go to the later two, suggesting we go to the first as well if we were interested. I walked around both museums not really knowing how to appreciate what I was looking at. I knew to be amazed when I saw Picasso’s massive “Guernica,” but I didn’t feel like I really knew what was so astounding about it. We saw more of Picasso’s works and several more by Dali. Though not housed in Spain, I feel like Dali’s “La persistencia de la memoria” speaks a great deal to the culture in Madrid, and quite possibly the rest of the country. Time seems to pass differently in Spain—it seems to move slower, each day seeming to last twice as long as its American counterpart. Though I don’t know the first thing about art history, I can’t help but wonder if Dali’s painting is a statement on the malleable nature of time. Dali once said, “Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.” I think, in this way, his concept of time, as shown in the painting, breaks the universally held notion of time as a rectilinear entity (in much the same way Einstien had, mere decades earlier with his theories of special relativity). I have a couple of theories as to why this is: first of all, the people here simply move at such a slower speed. Whether it be walking on the street to ringing up items at the grocery store, it honestly baffles me how anything gets done here. To that end, Spain has a nationalized midday naptime. When siesta rolls around at about two in the afternoon, most of the city shuts down. It is absolutely impossible to get anything accomplished between 2:30, when I get out of class, and 5ish (…not to mention Sundays when everything in the city is closed…). I think the midday nap makes it feel like one day takes up the length of two back home. [image source]
love it
I love Dali. All of his paintings are soo thought provoked. I loved the quote that you found by him, and the way you interpreted it into your evaluation. I have that painting hanging in my room at college. It always starts the most interesting conversations about time. Everyone's interpretations are so interesting. I really like how you related it to your experience in Spain. Often times when discussing the painting, I find myself talking about time, and how it kills a person, or possesses a person, etc. But then I remember the title and it throws me into another aspect about memory. Alzheimer's runs in my family, I have seen it take over both of my Grandmothers, and i feel like this painting is a good description of the disease. It all fades away with time, and it almost takes you back in time. Anyways, just another thought. I enjoyed all of yours.
¡¡DALÍ!!
I love that quote from Dali that you used. I grew up with that painting in my house and I've always loved Dali. I've seen one of his self-directed biographical videos and truly think that the guy was a nut - Freud would have a heyday. Anyways, I think you do make a great point with drawing parallels between this painting and the Spanish ideas and habits of time passage. I never thought of it in the context of Spanish culture specifically, more in the context of TIME as an overarching concept. Spain's relation with time is unique for a Western country and shouldn't be overlooked and I think it's great that you're thinking critically about the artist and the culture in which you're living.
I think that it is a beautiful way of living life, but then again, it's not culturally ingrained in me. Is it difficult adjusting to the system of siestas? Thanks for the wonderfully thoughtful post.