Time?

"The Persistence of Memory" was painted by Salvador Dalí in 1931.

     This painting is one of the most known of Dali's paintings.  When you look at it, you notice many things.  The most obvious are the melting clock throughout the painting and the whitish creature in the center of the painting.  If you dig a bit deeper you see the pocket watch on the left covered by ants and cliffs in the upper right hand corner.  I believe that this painting was just Dali's interpretation on time in general.

     I could see Dali's interpretation on time in the melting clocks.  I think that they showed that time wasn't rigid and totally clear, but a little more at ease.  This feeling is shown by the softness of the clocks.  Despite this, Dali also contradicts this with the clock with ants.  In many of Dali's paintings, ants symbolize death.  In this painting, I believe that it symbolizes the anxiety that ,any people feel over time and the anxiety associated with meeting a deadline.  Finally, I looked at the clock that is draped of the animistic thing in the center of the painting.  I think that in this instance that the clock symbolizes the memories that people carry with them.  I think that this symbolizes the feeling of being held down by a memory.  I think that how the figure fades is a symbol for how people drag their memories through life.

      In this painting, Dali gave many different points of views on how to view time and memories that are associated with it.  I think that it can be viewed in any of the ways and that all of the people who view this piece will view it differently.  I believe that it connects to humanity because it essentially explains time and how it works.  I think that it is a great theory and that Dali was just a philosopher who showed his views through painting.  I think that his views are immensely interesting.  How about you?