“The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dali is a painting created in 1931, which depicts melting clocks and a “dead” atmosphere.
The main focus of this painting are the melting clocks, the lonely backdrop, and the mysterious piece of flesh lying on the ground. Dali has specifically said that he doesn’t know the meaning of this piece, making it all the more mysterious and interesting. However, it may be implied that Dali is trying to convey the difference between reality and fantasy.
At first glance, it may seem as though the piece of flesh in the middle of the painting may be just another surface on which the melting clock could rest. However, when noticing the details of this specific element in the painting, human characteristics are implicitly recognizable. Starting from left to right (or top to bottom), there are eyebrows, eye lashes on a closed eye, nose, and a mouth. From this observation, it can be established that the flesh is indeed the face of a human being. Judging by the closed eyes and the open mouth, the painting may suggest that this human is asleep or dead. In the case that this face is just asleep, Dali may be conveying that while we sleep, we grow unconscious of our surroundings and time itself. Instead, we end up in undisturbed peace, as depicted by the backdrop of the painting. Furthermore, sleeping, in many ways, is an escape from reality. Dali depicts this escape by using solid objects, which in this case is a clock, and turns them flexible. This absurdity is something that can never happen in reality, which is more the reason why Dali may be incorporating these elements onto the painting.
Similar to the depiction of when the face is asleep, in the case that this face is dead, Dali may be conveying that time is not a factor in the past life of this person anymore. The time piece on the bottom left of the painting is covered by ants. As the object is still solid, it may suggest that there are still aspects of reality remaining in the person’s mind. However, since the person is dead, the crawling ants signify the decay of reality, suggesting that reality is soon to be long gone along with the existence of the person.
Much like how our fantasies and dreams leave a strong resonance, Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” represents our fantasies visually, leaving an equally strong impact.
