Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory - Essay Example The essay "Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory" discovers the artwork of the famous painter, Salvador Dali. While this might seem uncanny enough, the clocks are not flat as you might expect them to be, but are bent out of shape, appearing to be in the act of melting away. The melting aspect can be explained that the region in which they are located is a desert climatic zone which is marked by extremely high temperatures. This weird and unexpected juxtaposition poses a lot of questions right up-front. First and foremost one has to wonder why the clocks are melting or question their location in the desert. The finally question to ponder is the fact that there are no people around them. Since the subject matter and content of the Salvador Dali's clocks painting seems illogical or irrational, one might be surprised by the very representational and nearly photographic quality of the painting, fitting well with Dali's own description of his art as being hand-painted dream photographs . The concept of the dream in this case is integral in understanding Surrealism and plays a key role in the meaning of The Persistence of Memory, as well. One of the goals of the Surrealists was to bring out the best visual representation of what it is like to be dreaming. As a result of this, Surrealism might seem a little crazy but every individual has had a case of dreams where unrelated people, places, or objects come together in completely inexplicable ways. The understanding most likely depicts a dream state.