It was not just a dream. I was on top of a tall concrete building. My field of vision had changed. A vast ellipsis of space to my left and right. Below and ahead, such magnified detail. It was overwhelming to my senses. I became aware of the dark velvet of my wings. I took off.
Simultaneously, I became the observer of myself as the bald eagle, with the unforgettable eye. You can’t be met by that I / eye, when you become the eagle.
I believe the surrealist experience, in this case, the lucid dream, to be one of the crucial aspects of surrealism in action. The artwork becomes a by product, an adjunct to, or a meta interpretation of a lucid dream experience.
In this presentation I discuss my experience of lucid dreaming and how this, in addition to meditation and context, influences the art work I produce. The Surrealists on one level were calling for people to wake up from their ordinary conditioned lives, to look beyond convention, logic, morality. To question and challenge, to subvert. Lucid dreaming does the same, it invites the dreamer to explore yet further, beyond the confines of gravity and materiality. Lucid dreaming as with surrealism uses the mind as a tool for liberation, to essentially wake up; to see reality in its true mystery and magnificence.
This video presentation was created for the worldwide virtual conference for the International Society for the Study of Surrealism (ISSS). Due to the Pandemic the conference was held virtually over 4 days, from November 11 – 14, 2021.