July 13, 2008

• Lucid Dreaming, Arabian Ice Cream

  An interesting dream last night, or rather, in the hours before waking:

  I am waiting for a bus, and it is raining. Luckily I am waiting indoors, watching through the big windows in the front of a deserted and empty department store. I am feeling sorry for all the other people at all the other stops along the route, because the bus is terribly late today and not many of the stops have any place to shelter. The sky is absolutely dreary, and it is getting cold and dark.

  I always have a sketchbook with me, and my sharpie, so out of habit I take that out and start thinking about what to draw. The room becomes a design class, and on the far wall of this gigantic, abandoned space the professor has written down our assignment for the day. One of my classmates points it out; apparently i’ve been dawdling or daydreaming instead of doing the work. It is difficult to read, since a.) i am myopic, and it is far away b.) it is in scrawly cursive and c.) it’s nigh impossible to read in your dreams. Apparently this is an entirely separate function of the brain.

  A moment of clarity: thinking outside of my situation, I realize I am actually somehow able to read and write while dreaming. It’s been happening fairly frequently over the past few weeks, where i’ve been typing something or looking at signs or trying slowly and painfully to write a message (i keep getting distracted or interrupted), so perhaps I’ve been practicing. I seem to be getting better.

  The assignment is a design task: something about drawing an architectural rendering of a business which is rooted in ancient history. What?? and since these are words in a dream, they are quickly gone. I am clever though, and the inspiration comes quickly: an ice cream shoppe in the desert. I remember some elaborate faux factology- did you know, that it was the Ancient Arabian people who invented ice cream? it was made from sweetened and spiced milk and topped with sugared dates. (Sounds excellent, but is that even true?? where would they even get the ice to make such a thing?? how did my brain come up with that? what is this strange affinity i have for middle eastern culture?) Already i’m off, drawing this Arabian ice cream parlor in the desert.

  It has arched windows and spires and columns, and elaborate mosaics on the patio. There’s some camels chilling outside while  the children wait for their treat. I am having a tough time drawing the camel’s legs; one is standing at attention and comes out looking a bit lopsided, and the other one is sniffing the ground. I draw a sloppy U shape  to represent a saddle or blanket on his back. I can’t get the cupola of the roof quite right, and this is seriously aggravating. I realize again, lucidly, how weird it is to be mimicking motor control in a subconscious state. I draw a boy sitting on a mule, and the mule is stealing a lick of sweet cream from a nearby dish. This is exactly the kind of funny thing i might draw even if i were awake.

  And then i am awake, and it’s really frustrating because i was right in the middle of this great big fantastic artistic effort, and now i have zilch to show for it. You can’t take drawings back from dreamtime, you know. So now i have to start all over again….. but it is sort of fascinating, because then i wonder: where do my ideas come from? Maybe what makes me an artist is the ability to to tap into my subconscious, on cue,  from my waking life, and then draw from those images and ideas. And now it seems i have somehow managed to do it vice versa, and mimic my waking life and objectivity while in a dream state. neat!

  • 10:23 am
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