February 21, 2013

Dali's Elephants


Those who have ever been to my tiny apartment in Leipzig must have seen this Dali's repro hung on my wall.
Some commented that this painting depressed them, it is bleak, deserted and empty. Why would I hang this painting in the middle of my room?  

They are right in a way, this does look depressing at a first glance, but I have a different feeling when I look at this absurdly surrealistic painting. I don't see emptiness there, I see imagination, difference, sky of possibilities. I see a beautiful sunset sky, opening up the the horizon. And look at the elephants, they are touching the sky.. They aren't supposed to be that high, are they? They're supposed to roam the ground, having huge heavy legs.. But look at them here, they aren't 'normal' elephants, they are different, that's why they can soar despite the heavy obelisks they're carrying on their backs. 
Look closely at the people on the ground, they look like robots.. They are 'normal', complying to the set standards, yet so far from reaching the beautiful sunset sky.  
Fyi, this painting was inspired by Bernini's sculpture of elephant and obelisk at the Roman church Santa Maria sopra Minerva (St Mary above (conquering) Minerva). I was there, hehe.

I've always loved Dali. He is so absurd, so original, he challenged the norms of normality. In his 'persistence of memory' I see how he changes the strict concept of time into melting clocks, representing the idea that time can be flexible, maybe incorporating Einstein's theory of relativity. 





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