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Salvador Dali’s La persistencia de la memoria (The Persistence of Memory), like the Mona Lisa, is one of the most famous and most referenced paintings of all time. Pretty amazing, considering that Dali’s piece isn’t nearly as old as da Vinci’s. This month is the perfect month to discuss Dali’s work, most famous for its melting clocks, since October is National Clock Month.
1. The Persistence of Memory has come to be known by many other names, including Soft Watches, Droopy Watches, The Persistence of Time, and Melting Clocks.
2. In 1954, Dali’s The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory reinterpreted his famous work. The composition is much the same, but the items and background are fragmented into smaller components and blocks. New additions to the image include water, a fish, and horn-like objects.
3. After the dropping of the atom bomb in 1945, Dali changed gears, moving from a Freudian phase into a scientific phase. The Persistence of Memory seems to be the transition between his phases.
4. The painting, especially the melting clocks, has been frequently referenced in pop culture. Some notable references in television include Doctor Who (the First Doctor), Futurama, Hey Arnold! and The Simpsons. Other references can be found in the music video for Brad Paisley’s song “Alcohol,” the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Gary Larson’s comic The Far Side, the 75th issue of the Wolverine comic, and the video games EarthBound and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.
5. Some people believe the painting, as a visualization of Einstein’s theory of relativity, depicts gravity distorting time.
6. Dali reportedly claimed, “The difference between a madman and me is that I am not mad.”
So what’s your take on the painting? Is it a visualization of Einstein’s theory, a statement on the war, a self-portrait, or something else entirely? Or how about Dali himself — do you think he was right when he stated that he’s not mad?
Comments (9)
Comment
Another reference is the Sea of Time in the movie Yellow Submarine. To me it’s a dream dialectic between nature and science.
posted by Vorpal on 10-11-2007 at 8:12 am
Have you ever seen Dali’s documentary film about himself, “Dali, a Soft Self Portrait”? Pretty crazy stuff, but thoroughly enjoyable. I first saw it in a high school art class. I think the teacher was trying to mess with the 75% of his students who were frequently stoned during class.
As for the painting, I think Dali always wanted to make people sproing outside their comfort zone – nothing should be predictable and/or expected (not even a moustache). This work has always served to remind me that measuring time is a completely human invention – a very constraining one. The desert will still be the desert even if timepieces cease to exist; the ants will persist in their tasks regardless of how many minutes ’til 7:00 it is.
posted by elizabutt on 10-11-2007 at 8:49 am
I guess that’s more of a beach than a desert. My memory is obviously not that persistent.
Also, the humanish creature is exposed and useless: pinned under his own defunct invention.
posted by elizabutt on 10-11-2007 at 8:55 am
I’ve always felt that it was memory that was melting time, making it irrelivant and floppy. But I like elizabutt’s comment about the exposed nature of the body parts, you feel it especially with the barrenness of the landscape. I’ve definately felt that memories have done that to me; bent time, laid me barren.
posted by SaiSai on 10-11-2007 at 9:16 am
I’ve always subscribed to the ‘relativity’ school of interpretation on this painting. We should launch a movement for a National Melting Clock Month. BTW, anyone who hasn’t checked out the Dali museum in St. Pete, FL should go – the scale of his work is amazing.
Also, elizabutt, (for what it’s worth) I’ve always thought of it as a desert lakeshore. So, you could be right twice. ;-)
posted by Roger on 10-11-2007 at 9:56 am
Great comment by elizabutt! This is one of my favorite paintings of all time. It is haunting and yet makes me feel peaceful.
posted by Adam Richter on 10-11-2007 at 10:40 am
i had the good fortune to visit dali museum… a must do if in the area. didn’t his work turn quite religious? BTW– loved elizabutt’s comments.
posted by joehawkins on 10-11-2007 at 10:50 am
I was never much of a Dali fan but I always liked the backgrounds of his paintings.
To me, this work would look better without the clocks. There is something very depressing about his work.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 10-11-2007 at 10:55 am
Hi. I am a year ten visual art student in Australia. I am currently writing an interpretation and evaluation essay on this painting.
The first time I saw this image, I thought it was bazaar and pointless, but when I began writing the essay, I came to appreciate the thought and planning that went into it.
Dali says in his book ‘Diary of a Genius’ that he was inspired by Camembert cheese melting on his page as he wasted his days doing virtually nothing. He said that, to him, time was irrelevant and melted away without him even noticing. This inspired him to paint ‘The Persistence of Memory’.
I have been investigating many elements that are present in the painting, however I found one in particular that I found particularly intriguing. A diagonal line of shadowing runs between the cliff face and the foreground. This, some say, represents the border between what is real (Port Lligat, Spain- Dali’s hometown) and his subconscious thoughts (the ‘melting’ clocks and distorted corpse). How clever?!
Anyway, this fascinated me and helped me appreciate art more. I hope it does the same for you.
posted by Mel ツ on 5-22-2009 at 8:27 am