TOW #10: The Persistence of Memory

In the infamous painting, The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali illustrates a dream-like scene of distorted clocks and this piece is considered a vastly important surrealist piece. Dali, a renowned Spanish surrealist painter, is considered one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century and his deformed and crazy images left a significant mark on the world of art. He appears to address the masses by illustrating his views on time and memory. In the painting, he utilizes subdued colors, distorted images and symbols, and irony to argue his view of the inconsistency of time and memory in the modern world. The fact that he painted 4 clocks melting away in a lonely desert and he uses the word persistence in the title is incredibly ironic. Melting does not symbolize persistency and this use of irony implies his views of how neither time nor memory are constant. Also, one of the clocks is covered with ants as a symbol of decay and how time can, in fact, deteriorate. The subdued and natural colors used in the painting give the piece a realistic flare, yet the deformed clocks and figure on the ground contrast with that flare and give a dream-like sense. The figure on the ground also has their eyes closed, possibly indicating that they are in a dream as well, where time passes even faster than in everyday life. This strategic juxtaposition was important to many surrealist painters, especially Dali, as seen in many of his other paintings and his use of very different images and symbols to display a common theme.  I believe that Dali achieved his purpose of proving the inconsistency of time and memory. His strategic use of symbols and irony support his argument that neither of these facets are constant and that time passes very differently when in various states of mind, like dreaming. The Persistence of Memory is considered one of Dali's most famous works, and rightfully so, due to the fact that it poignantly emphasizes his own perceptions of time and memory.