The chosen artwork is Persistence of Memory (24.1 x 33 cm) by Salvador Dali. It was written in 1931 and is located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (Ling, 2017). The prominent elements in the composition are watches, mountains, the fluffy object located in the center, and the color contrast. These slow watches, as Dali said, are as muddy as overripe cheese, like camembert of time. It involves homeostasis: ants, the recurring theme of Dali’s work, show decline, especially when attacking gold watches, and look grotesque and organic. The giant, fluffy creature in the center of the photo is both alien and friendly. His long lashes resemble Dali himself in profile, and his tongue is poured from his nose like a fat snail. Badly like insects, or even sexually.
The Persistence of Memory uses a variety of principles of design components such as contrast, repetition, and proportion. The Dali line in the picture depends on the shape he handles. Most of the photographs, with the exception of the mountains and the lashes of white figures, contain relatively thin, same-width lines. The mountains have clear lines, giving them a rugged and realistic look. Using lines also improves the realism of river mountain reflections. The plateau and the brown article have straight and symmetrical lines. The colors used make the painting more alive and realistic. There are more saturated and dark colors that are not bright or vivid. Dali mixes color and shadow together to show different experiences.
Being created at the beginning of the 20th century, this masterpiece reflects the background of the value of society. The 20th century is known for social and national struggle, resolved by world wars, revolutions, and the emergence of a new social system. The contradictions in society caused the inconsistency and fragmentation of human values. The painting represents the contrast between reality and consciousness established in people’s minds in those times. The subject matter of the work is time, and it is expressed in various meanings, where ants symbolize decay and the clock symbolizes time.
Reference
Ling, L. M. (2017). Denouement: teacher education and the persistence of memory. European Journal of Teacher Education, 40(5), 647–653. Web.