May 25, 2007
May 19, 2007
Apocalypto
(Note: For any confused fans, this excerpt was begun Saturday, after the Yankees slim 3-2 loss to the Mets on Friday night, not after yesterday's Yankees 6-1 trouncing of the Mets with a rookie pitcher. Go Yankees!)
Second Note: I've been really slacking on putting up this entry, so now it's like a week later, and the Yanks have beat the Red Sox 2 outta 3 in the series, so I'm feeling much better. OK, 'nuff talkin'. Here's the entry).
With the all of the strange things that have been happening lately in the world, specifically, the Yankees being in this terrible slump, the Mets actually in first place, and now them beating them at Shea yesterday, it's been looking more and more like sure signs of the apocalypse. I was at the game yesterday, and no doubt the terrible sign I saw there influenced my dream. But I think I was able to avert disaster, not once, but twice, by using some of the lucid dreaming techniques we studied. I still woke up a little unnerved, though it is hard to actually place my finger on what it was that made me so uneasy in this dream. But the point is I did wake up by using the techniques, and the dream didn't take me where it wanted to because something in my consciousness was able to influence it.
May 14, 2007
Sleeping Universe
OK, this is kinda a weird feeling, because I literally just woke up this minute from the dream and it took place right here in my room, so I feel like the world has done one of those movie CGI morphs from one thing to another without my state of consciousness changing. Anyway, let me shake it off and type this down, like Mr. Tougaw told me to (you'll see).
May 12, 2007
Thoughts on Upcoming Conference
Do y'think I'm overreacting? Maybe a little bit. I've been quite worried about how I am going to simplify my material on Jung into something pointed, effective, and yet simple and clear enoughto be audience friendly for our upcoming conference. I've had the bad luck to have to use the most technical and complex part of my webproject as a source, and it's been difficult, because my project was really more about the theories of Joseph Campbell than Carl Jung. I have had to do much more work, actually, to put his argument in a nutshell because I have not thought about how to use him on his own in a very simple way before. But I've been at it, and think I've got something good for the dress rehearsal. I'll put my presentation in the extended entry section, and if anyone has any advice for me, drop me a comment.
May 9, 2007
April 24, 2007
Craziness Pt. !
Here is another dream I had over a week ago, but didn't write down for the blog. But I remember it clearly, because part of it is from a recurring dream, that has worsened from my readings of artists like Chekhov and Dostoyevsky. There's more to it than what's here, but its too crazy and too deep, even for me. But this is a substantial part.
April 14, 2007
Web Project
The Relationship of Myth and Poetry to Dreaming and the Unconscious
This is my early version of the web-project. Much subqequent revision and reformatting needs to be done from this point, but I think I have a solid frame to work with here. Check it out:
March 24, 2007
Acid Rain
FRED TOMASELLI, Cyclopticon 2, 2003, mixed media, acrylic paint, resin on wood, 24 x 24 x 1 1/2 inches
Since I've either been too busy to sleep or too fatigued to dream lately, I figured I'd go with something old but interesting. This is part of a reverie I had one time at this godawful bullshit job I used to have as a night security guard in a building in the Rockaways. There was nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and watch the paint peel for like 10 hours straight, and I would think of the most fantastical bullshit there. Wrote this one down once for a creative writing class I took, and thought I'd share it.
Final Exam
Was it really that bad? I hope nobody actually felt like this. Just a little sumpthin' ta lighten the mood.
March 15, 2007
Crossroads
Had this dream a few nights ago..kinda funny that I had it because I haven't thought about what I was thinkin' about in it in years. But there's a reason.
March 14, 2007
March 6, 2007
February 28, 2007
February 27, 2007
Tha Crew
Had this dream the other night. For a change, a kinda funny one, at least ta me...
February 18, 2007
February 17, 2007
Dante's Masterpiece
Alessandro Velutello: Lucifer Apalled
Illustration from Canto XXXIV of Dante's Divine Comedy
February 13, 2007
Visual Dream of Fantastical Rebirth
Trying out an experiment here. I think it'll be interesting for us to try to visualize the meanderings of the mind through an alternative medium, so I put together this representation. This took me hours to compile from web images I was searching, but I really wanted to bring the visual aspect out of the dreams. Click on this link to see a visual representation of a dream series, sans narration. The dream is chaotic, filled with conflicting images of innocence and violence, which it struggles to shake off through the channeling of its emotion into the sexual, which is purgative. It ends in a kind of rebirth that cleanses the violent emotion by recreating the inner universe through a wedding of the eros and thanatos, channeling their conflicting energies into a balance that is acceptable to the rational mind.
February 12, 2007
Heart of Darkness
Had this dream around a week ago, a few days after my accident, but didn't write it down then. I had been getting into fights with some of my boys that week. This dream occured to me after falling asleep reading Conrad's Heart of Darkness
February 11, 2007
Hannibal Rising
Just saw Hannibal Rising last night, which was excellent. Had this dream. Not sure of the extent of its influence on my dream, but check it out.
February 5, 2007
Hodgepodge
A preliminary dream here. This is one of those wanderings through the associative dreams of my own past dream memories that often occurs when i am deepest in sleep. A kind of collection of fodder that usually presages either a recurring dream, or a variation. This time however, I had a couple of brand new weird ones, but they are harder to remember now. I might try to set one down in the next entry if I can get some recall.
February 4, 2007
Egg Yolk
I got into a minor car accident this weekend and suffered a concussion (at least I'm told, though I don't remember any of it). Woke up with a splitting headache. Here's the dream I had the next time I went to sleep...
December 27, 2006
My Old Dream
When I was little, i used to have a dream that mine and my sister's rooms had special closets that led to secret passageways throughout the house, like the kid had on that show Webster.
December 26, 2006
Reflection on my Research Project
Title: Elven Fairy Magic
Artist: Howard David Johnson
The Unconsoled (Part II)
Negative Space
by Diana Ong
In class I said I thought that Ishiguro's novel was brilliant, but something I wish never to read again, and I thought I'd talk about that, and the impression that the novel left on me, for this blog.
The Unconsoled Pt. I
Since there are two entries to be done on The Unconsoled, i think I'll use this one to talk about its form.
November 20, 2006
Lucid Dreaming
Man as the center of the Universe. From "De Operatione Dei", by Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179, at bottom left). Rupertsburg (Germany), 1200 CE. Cod.lat. 1942, f.9r.
Location :Biblioteca Statale, Lucca, Italy
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
Since I discussed Waking Life already in a response comment on someone else's blog, I wanted to talk here a little more about the actual process of lucid dreaming...
Dream Image
Moreau, Gustave (1826-1898)
The Apparition.
Location :Musee Gustave Moreau, Paris, France
Photo Credit : Giraudon / Art Resource, NY
I decided to change the image I previously had up here because I wanted to show something that fascinates me a lot more, I would have more to say about, and will help clarify the reasons why I hold to my particular artistic aesthetic, which has nothing to do with versimilitude, or conventional beauty, but everything to do with human connection and tangibility. I really enjoyed this image of by the French painter Gustave Moreau of Salome seeing the apparition of the head of St. John the Baptist (whose head was cut off at her instigation to Herod). I enjoy this artist's work because of his stunning use of color, drawing, and a combination of the real and abstract in leaving the skeloton of some very Indian/hindu looking art work adorning the background facade in the painting. The quality of this painting is at once so dream-like, and at the same time so jarringly hyper-real that I find it absolutely riveting, marvelously beautiful, and cryptically revelatory about something deeper that I find it hard to put my exact finger on, but I can feel. It is something in her expression, and his, and the way that the shining of the light from his head almost seems to make the background that would have been in the painting fall away and reveal the true world of the abstract that lies underneath it. The ornately visual nature of the abstract world and the fact that it is a distinctly eastern, non Judeo-Christian representation of the hidden universe being revealed through a principle figure of Christian narrative makes it all the more compelling to me, because it reveals the combination of opposites and reconcilliation of paradoxes that exist within God's all encompassing nature, and connects the abstract world in which He exists to the human in a stunningly concrete and overwhelming way, as a vision of the divine power would no doubt feel to a human being, as is so constantly described in the various visions, ecstacies, and epiphanies of saints, sinners, and prophets in so many different religions.
November 18, 2006
Kisses from Heaven
Klimt, Gustav (1862-1918)
The Kiss. 1907-1908. Oil on canvas, 180 x 180 cm.
Location :Oesterreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
November 11, 2006
A Being Builds Itself Out of the Blackness
Blake, William (1757-1827)
"Song of Los". Copy C, Bentley 1/frontispiece. Printed version. PML 77236.
Location :The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : The Pierpont Morgan Library / Art Resource, NY
Here is the glimmer of eternity in waking that I percieved last night, right before emerging into consciousness, on the night of my closest uncle's funeral.
Continue reading "A Being Builds Itself Out of the Blackness" »
November 7, 2006
Hartman vs. Hobson
Le Brun, Charles (1619-1690)
Head of a bearded man, seen from above, the top of the skull removed. INV 28235; GM 6563.
Location :Louvre, Paris, France
Photo Credit : Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY
I know, I know. This entry is incredibly late. I don't know how i forgot to do this one earlier. Still, as all of the dream theorists, particularly these two guys, keep coming up in our discussions, I think they're still relevant, so better late than never...
My Heresy
Manetti, Rutilio (1571-1639)
Saint Peter in tears.
Location :Coll. Monte dei Paschi, Siena, Italy
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
Image Reference : ART161008
This is one I had a few weeks ago. I had thought about recounting it then but didn't. I haven't wanted to recall or write about this one because spiritually it was so disturbing. But I haven't anything else clear enough in my mind to write about about so I will have to use this one...
October 26, 2006
The Brood
This one is an action dream that has some weird stuff and some rather interesting twists in it. I was interested in this one because I thought it illustrated well Robert McNish's point about how without the faculty of judgment in normal dreaming we do not become overwhelmed by fear or concern in situations that in the case of nightmare would be terror inducing...
Biblical Dream Images
Hey art fans. Here are some renditions from various eras of Biblical dream images:
Chagall, Marc (1887-1985) © ARS, NY
The Prophesy of Isaiah, 1969.
Location :Private Collection
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
Bomberg, David (1890-1957) © Copyright Tate Gallery
Vision of Ezekiel, 1912.
Location :Tate Gallery, London, Great Britain
Photo Credit : Tate Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY
Greco, El (1541-1614)
The Dream of Phillip II.
Location :Escorial, Madrid, Spain
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
Memling, Hans (1425/40-1494)
Altarpiece of St.John the Baptist and St.John the Evangelist. Right wing: Apocalyptic Vision of Saint John the Evangelist. 1474-1479. Oak. 176 x 78.9 cm.
Location :Memling Museum, Sint-Janshospital, Bruges, Belgium
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
Vision of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden receiving beams of light from Christ and the Virgin; a Host held by a priest at mass come alive. From Revelations, by Saint Bridget of Sweden, in Latin. Italy (Naples), last quarter 14th century. MS. M.498, f.4v.
Location :The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : The Pierpont Morgan Library / Art Resource, NY
This last piece I just had to include because this is absolutely my favorite piece of religious sculpture.
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo (1598-1680)
Ecstasy of St. Theresa.
Location :Cornaro Chapel, S. Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
October 17, 2006
Midsummer night's dream and Rennaissance images
Here are some of my favorite images from "A Midsummer Night's Dream":
Paton, Joseph Noel (1821-1901)
The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania. 1847.
Location :National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, Great Britain
Photo Credit : Art Resource, NY
Huskisson, Robert (?1820-1861)
The Midsummer Night's Fairies (exhibited 1847). Oil on wood, 28.9 x 34.3 cm.
Location :Tate Gallery, London, Great Britain
Photo Credit : Tate Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY
Fuseli, Henry (1741-1825)
Titania and Bottom. c.1790. Oil on canvas, 2172 x 2756 mm. Presented by Miss Julia Carrick Moore in accordance with the wishes of her sister, 1887.
Location :Tate Gallery, London, Great Britain
Photo Credit : Tate Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY
Dadd, Richard (1817-1886)
Titania sleeping. 1841. Photo: Gérard Blot.
Location :Louvre, Paris, France
Photo Credit : Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY
Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939)
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Music of the Goblins. 1908. Pen and ink and watercolor. Photo: Knud Petersen.
Location :Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Photo Credit : Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz / Art Resource, NY
October 16, 2006
Victorian Dream theory
Fuseli, Henry (1741-1825)
The Nightmare. Ca. 1781.
Location :Goethe House and Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Photo Credit : Snark / Art Resource, NY
Some of the Victorian Dream theorists that we read for class had some really interesting ideas pertaining to the character and meaning of dreaming that in some instances amazed me, especially taking into account the fact that their observations were made before the advent of the field of psychology itself...
October 15, 2006
Borderline Dreams
A mask representing Tsonoqa, a giantess who carried away children in order to eat them. However, as she was also sleepy and stupid the children often escaped. She is identified here by her half-closed eyes, black face and pursed mouth through which she announced her presence by whistling. Painted wood and human hair. Kwakiutl people. Northwest Coast of America.
Location :Provincial Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Photo Credit : Werner Forman / Art Resource, NY
I've had a few long entries lately so I'm going to just keep this one short and sweet...
October 10, 2006
Reading Scarry
Blake,William
The Ancient of Days, 1794. Relief etching with watercolor, 23.3 x 16.8 cm.
Location :British Museum, London, Great Britain
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
Scarry's explanations of how pictures are created were insightful and illuminating. Never before had I challenged or even looked at the regularly accepted notion that literature is more akin to the nature of dream structures than waking, but after reading her intelligently argued thesis, I can see how this common assumption proves under closer scrutiny to be fallacious, or at least incomplete...
October 2, 2006
Broken teeth
Munch, Edvard (1863-1944) © ARS, NY
The Scream. 1893. Tempera and pastels on cardboard, 91 x 73.5 cm.
Location :National Gallery, Oslo, Norway
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
O.K. Here is another bad one. I was reminded obliquely just by the sheer horror of the dream I had last week of the feeling of horror in this one that I had a few times sporadically...
September 28, 2006
Forced Awakening
This is the second of a pair of unsettling dreams I had last week. Probably because of the intensity of the one I had had on the previous night, I was more psychically guarded in this dream and able to rouse myself from sleep.
September 26, 2006
Response to Kafka
Drawing by Kafka.
Location :
Photo Credit : Snark / Art Resource, NY
Kafka's dream-like style is one of the most ingeneous and jarring that I have ever encountered. I can't believe I've never read him before now!!
September 25, 2006
Broken Pathways (Part II)
18th and 19th century erotic books owned by author and art collector Roger Peyrefitte were auctioned off and dispersed in 1981. Engravings from a 1789 special edition of "La Pucelle d'Orleans", Voltaire's blasphemous satire about the life and loves of Joan of Arc.
Location :Private Collection
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
I am walking along a bridge walkway, proceeding out of a small tunnel portion that leads to a park and a familiar streetcorner that I don't think i have ever really been to, but is certainly a part of other related dreams I have had in the past that conveyed this confusing feeling of waywardness that i felt in this dream...
September 19, 2006
Thoughts on Jung
Guru Drakpoche. Tangka, Tibet, Late 17th to early 18th c. Padma Sambhava takes the form of Guru Drakpoche, a fierce Heruka archetype deity embracing his consort in sexual union. Gouache on cotton. 31 x 25 in. (78.4 x 64.0 cm). Crane Collection 1911. Inv.: 11.718.
Location :The Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : The Newark Museum / Art Resource, NY
Jung's discussion of how the final standpoint of interpretation of dreams needs necessarily be adopted in conjunction with the causal (that method of interpretation that Freud so heavily and egregiously overrelies on to make the case for his theory of universal infantile wish-fulfillment as the overarching purpose of dreams) in his Structure and Dynamica of the Psyche was truly enlightening and intriguing....
September 18, 2006
Broken Pathways (Pt. I)
Dali, Salvador (1904-1989) (c) ARS, NY
The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13". (162.1934). Given anonymously.
Location :The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : Digital Image (c) The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
Here is an odd one that I had the other afternoon. I am going to split this up into two separate entries, because it was really two dreams that I had that afternoon. Both parts, however, center around the same theme, though they are expressed in different ways...
September 12, 2006
Surrealist Dream
Doré, Gustave (1832-1883)
Don Quixote reading (vol. I, chap. I). Engraved by Heliodore Joseph Pisan.
Location :
Photo Credit : Snark / Art Resource, NY
Note: The dream is in the second person because it feels like it is happening to somebody else. It is very strange.
It is a bright, sunny autumn day again. You are back driving in your ford, listening to the radio. A happy tune is on. You keep driving along, talking to your girl, not paying particular attention to anything...
Thoughts on Freud
Shahn, Ben (1898-1969) © VAGA, NY
Portrait of Freud, 1956.
Location :Private Collection
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
I think that, in the initial part of the overall treatise we read, Freud's method of interpreting dreams is a bit too overly simplistic and self-assured of its correctness, as if the speculations he is engaging in in that chapter simply because they are broken down to focus on the elements of the dream individually formulate a true science that can yield, if not closed and once-and-for-all conclusive answers, at least certain ones as to the true meaning of an aspect of his dream...
September 11, 2006
First Day
Hablik, Wenzel (1881-1934) © Copyright
The path of genius. Oil on canvas.
Location :Private Collection, Vienna, Austria
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
I was very intrigued and interested by the way our first class went. The structure of the course and the focus on dream analysis is something that i was excited about to begin with. I mean, what more fascinating topic could there be than delving into the mysterious inner workings of the human brain and learning about the myriad ways in which our minds function?
September 5, 2006
dark and mad
Finster, Howard (1916-2001)
VISION OF A GREAT GULF ON PLANET HELL. 1980. Note, title should be reproduced with upper case letters as cited. Enamel on plywood with painted frame. 35 1/2 x 18 5/8 in. (90.0 x 47.2 cm.)
Location :Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY
Ok, this one is really, really strange, and disturbing, because I honestly have no idea where it came from or what it meant, but I am going to submit it because it was extremely resonant, almost cinematic, and perhaps by trying to write about it I will gain some insight into why the heck this insanely distorted vision came to me...
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