DREAMING AS A CREATIVE FOUNDATION
photo from widewalls.com
In the 21st Century, the majority of the creative projects being released are generated by looking at pre-existing work and previous ideologies. I think that the process of finding original ideas by simply looking inwards is a concept that could be explored further.
New feelings can be tough to discover in everyday life, so I’ve started documenting experiences in dreams, in order to capture unfamiliar situations and use them as a way to breathe new life into any creative outlet. It’s a known fact that people have been led to scientific and technological breakthroughs by means of logging and interacting with their dreams. In art, I believe that the application of recalling your dreams could be used even more indirectly while still leaving a significant imprint on the artist's end result.
Mauricio Sierra-Siegert and his team at Colegiatura Colombiana tested the hypothesis that training people to increase the ability to recall their dreams by using a daily dream log would increase their scores on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, interesting right? 125 participants did initial measurements before being divided into two groups. The experimental group received a daily dream log, while the control group had been given a similarly phrased log registering memories of a vivid episode from the day before. After 27 days, there was a significant increase for the “creative strengths” component, which was only observed in the experimental group. Suggesting that increased awareness of dreams directly increases creativity through a “loosening” of stereotyped thinking patterns.
In the documentary “Jodorowsky’s Dune” director Alejandro Jodorowsky speaks on recruiting the musicians for his film, saying that “Pink Floyd have a record, Dark Side of the Moon. For me, that is the human being, like the moon. One side is brilliant, light. And the other side, who is black, the unconscious, what is mysterious, what is deep”. I think dreams represent that connection between the light and the dark side of the human mind. The ability to dive down into those depths and drag something out into the light is extremely interesting to me. I would love to see more artists interacting with their subconscious.
Even looking back on dreams that I wrote down years ago still allows me to instantly fall back into those distant and dark moments. By doing so, I’ve pretty much managed to keep those feelings alive, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide to what degree you want to use your dreams as a foundation for your creative expression.
Related articles:
Featured
20 Oct 2022I Thought We Said #ACAB: The Purpose of PolicingIn 2000, a Special Assignment program was aired that exposed the vicious dog training techniques used by the North East Rand dog unit.In the program we are shown a video captured by the officers themselves, one that the dog unit took so much pride in that they would screen the footage for their fellow policemen and friends at a braai. The footage itself is from 1998 and portrays 6 policemen who wanted to train 2 young police dogs to be vicious and aggressive. 2 older dogs were to be used to teach the new dogs how to attack and bring down a human target. Those human targets were 3 immigrants that had been picked up, without any charges, for the sole purpose of this dog trainingRead more →
20 Oct 2022Postmodernism: The interpretation of culture to give meaning to realityHyperreality refers to the condition of being unable to distinguish and differentiate between reality and simulations thereof. This is exemplified more intensively by social media. At the genesis of the 21st century, hyperreality was perpetuated primarily by basic modern media. TVs, magazines and movies were the primary advocates of hyperreality. Unrealistic standards of existence were illustrated through these forms of media. In today’s atmosphere, the primary advocate of hyperreality is social media. It heavily blurs the lines separating reality and simulations portraying reality. 58,4% of the world’s population is active on social media. This implies that the advancement of hyperreality is perceived by over half of the world’s population. No wonder we hate ourselves so bad.Read more →
29 Sept 2022CAN AI BE INTEGRATED INTO TRADITIONAL ARTISTIC MEDIUMS?The recent developments around AI generated imagery/artwork has brought up a lot of discussion around how it can be integrated into the current artistic ecosystem and what that could mean for artists.Read more →
20 Sept 2022The Line: between smoke and mirrorsA city: 170km long, 200 metres wide, completely encased in mirrors and built in the Saudi desert. Although it may seem like the description of a fictional post-apocalyptic city, the plan is real and the vision of His Royal Highness Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Read more →
30 Aug 2022DREAMING AS A CREATIVE FOUNDATIONIn the 21st Century, the majority of the creative projects being released are generated by looking at pre-existing work and previous ideologies. I think that the process of finding original ideas by simply looking inwards is a concept that could be explored further.Read more →
25 Aug 2022Is attraction the only true sexual orientation?GENDERFLUIDITY HAS BECOME A CHARACTERISTIC ASPECT OF SEXUALITY AS WE KNOW IT. RETROSPECTIVE VIEWS AND PRINCIPLES ON GENDER ROLES AND SEXUALITY ARE SLOWLY PHASING OUT. “BOYS DON’T CRY” AND “GIRLS LIKE PRINCESSES” ARE STATEMENTS THAT CAN GARNER A LOT OF BACKLASH TODAY.Read more →
16 Aug 2022Gen-z vs. Accusations of narcissism: Is our generation self-obsessed or in fact, passionately empathetic?For generation to generation, a peculiar period during which the preceding generation dissects and often ridicules the choices and ideals of the succeeding generation, and vice versa, has come to be expected.Read more →
21 Apr 2022“Everything you see, I owe to Spaghetti!”Picture this: you’re hungry, You’ve been busy all day and haven’t had the chance to eat. as you finally step foot into your house after all your stress, there’s a hot, freshly made bowl of spaghetti waiting for you. When one is hungry like that and presented with food, there is a brief moment of such profound, primal relief. Satisfaction, nutrition and pleasure! All because of a delicious bowl of pasta presented at just the right time.Read more →
7 Apr 2022IF LIFE WAS A VIDEOGAME, FAMOUS PEOPLE WOULD BE PLAYER 1'S AND THE REST OF US, JUST NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS.Thing is, if you're famous, you're more likely to make money—that's just the fact of the matter. but now for the modern times we're living in, this reality starts to stretch and there's this exclusive batch of jobs that you can't really get unless you're famous.Read more →
5 Apr 2022Are we the Last Men? : a brief look into the predictions of Fredrich Nietzsche.THE SUPERMAN IS THE ULTIMATE PERSON, SOMEONE WHO HAS TRANSCENDED THE PREJUDICES AND RESTRICTIONS OF THEIR SOCIETY AND CREATED THEIR OWN VALUES AND BELIEFS. THEY ARE CREATIVE, DISCONTENT, FLEXIBLE, SELF-CONFIDENT, CHEERFUL AND COURAGEOUS. THEY DEFY NIHILISM BY FINDING MEANING AND PURPOSE ON EARTHRead more →