

“The Persistence of Memory”’ is a widely recognized painting; its painter is Salvador Dali, a very intriguing man.  Dali looks like a regular man for the most part, but his mustache seems very unnatural and bizarre.  It appears to be more than three inches long on each side. He frequently fashions his moustache in outlandish ways, such as twirling it upward and sometimes putting flowers on the ends. Salvador Dali’s moustache seems to be representative of his eccentric personality.  Naturally, someone this unconventional produces work that is like himself, peculiar.  At first glance this painting looks realistic; the viewer sees a typical beach scene.  A closer inspection of this depiction challenges this view. As a result of Dali’s use of light, the painting seems to show several terrains at once. Is the viewer seeing hills, mountains, valleys, or a shoreline? Is it actually a landform or a room? Is one of the objects a tree or a jewelry organizer, or does both exist in one?  The fluidity of “The Persistence of Memory” makes it undeniably an example of surrealism.  Surrealism supplants the rational; it is an expression of the unconscious. It embodies chaos, dreams, and the irrational that people repress in their minds.   The unnatural shifts between terrains and the ambiguous objects within the scene are evidence of Dali’s use of surrealism. These shifts and enigmatic objects support the possibility of the theme perception; memory tends to change itself and a person over time.

Much like memory, the scene seems to shift as the viewer gazes into the painting.  Basically, the scene shown in the painting seems to transition to the viewer. At first, the scene it depicts is familiar.  It is familiar in the sense that it resembles a desert, a beach, a wasteland, or even a living room, depending on the viewer and one’s perception.  Dali seems to create this effect by using shading and ambiguous objects.  For example, evidence of the presence of a living room in the landscape is existent in the bottom left section of the foreground.  Here there are a pair of ambiguous objects.  One appears to be a jewelry organizer and the other seems to be some sort of jewel encrusted fragrance bottle.  Also, there is something a little to the right of this area that resembles a piece of furniture covered by a blanket or tarp.  Simultaneously, evidence of a beach is found towards the top in the background around what appears to be water. Similarly, evidence of the scene containing a wasteland overlaps with evidence of a beach environment.  As we turn our attention back to the bottom left part of the foreground on top of the desk-like structure near what resembles a jewel encrusted bottle of perfume, there appears to be an imprint of a pattern that resembles that of a sand dollar.  This also relates back to the possibility of a beach being present in the painting. The browns, whites, and blues are blended and transitioned so subtly in the background that it is difficult for the reader to suggest that the scene is either only a beach, desert, living room, or only a wasteland.  

This scene could also symbolize the reflective properties memories have.  The evolution of the person one is today is the result of the journey one takes in life. People’s transitions and mutability through life experiences develop their perceptions and help establish their essence of being.  In “Fish Cheeks,” Amy Tan recalls how as a teenager she is mortified when her mother decides not to cook a traditional Christmas meal. In retrospect, she realizes that her mother cooks all her “favorites.” At the time, Amy is so focused on gaining acceptance from a boy she likes she misses what her mother is doing.  Through reflection and the recalling of memories, a person connects life experiences and seeks to establish meaning in the same way the viewer of the painting seeks to establish the concrete from the abstract. 

Everything in this piece seems to go together and be at war at the same time. This harmonious battle is accomplished by the painting’s ambiguity.  Nothing in Dali’s painting can be justly claimed to be one thing that represents one idea.  By containing objects and features that can be interpreted as more than one thing, Dali causes different viewers to come to different conclusions.  In addition to creating different interpretations in different viewers, this can form different interpretations of the same thing within the mind of the same spectator.  Basically, someone looking at the painting is able to draw more than one conclusion from the same part of the painting. 

An example of this could be a viewer’s interpretation of the clocks.  One interpretation could be the author is portraying how old memories can affect a person. The several clocks within the scene support this claims.  They appear to be melting or possibly just worn out.  This appearance of being worn out can be interpreted as how the artist feels about time.  He may be saying that as time passes memories can wreak havoc on a person’s psyche.  In other words, negative experiences in life can damage the mind of a person throughout one’s life.  For example, experiencing multiple tragedies throughout a life time can gradually wear a person down to the point where they are worn out much like the clocks in the painting.  On the other hand, these clocks can also represent how the mind tends to mold memories.   In other words, memories naturally alter and transform themselves as time passes.  By altering reality, Dali guides his audiences’ attention to the several surreal elements within his piece.

One of these areas is present above the desk-like structure in the bottom left corner of the foreground.  Just above this structure is a thin rectangular prism.  Even more, this prism appears to be somewhat of a mirror or reflection pool.  Either way, it seems that the author is making commentary on how the mind may reflect on old memories.  In other words, the mind continuously brings old memories into your thoughts.  During which you tend to reflect upon your life and how you have changed over time.  The “Persistence of Memory” Dali may be referring to in this piece to how the mind tends to think about certain things even though they are far behind you.  Persistence in memory can be defined as the return of old recollections that cause you to experience nostalgia, reflect upon your yourself and decision you have made, or even all of these things at once.