Related text: The persistence of memory - salvador dali
The eccentric, Salvador Dali.
the persistence of memory and how it relates to seachange
Manna From Heaven is an episode from TV series SeaChange, which can be closely studied in correlation to Salvador Dali’s artwork The Persistence of Memory. Dali’s painting is undoubtedly his most renowned artwork and is distinctively visual through his choice in subject matter. Dali was a prominent surrealist painter, best known for his bizarre images, which deal with themes of imagination, fantasy and dream. Manna From Heaven opens with Kevin’s recurring dream of a mysterious individual who haunts him. The scene is uniquely blurry and hazy, reflecting on Kevin’s subconscious and subsequent confusion. The Persistence of Memory matches the theme of dream-like states and ambiguity. The figure near the centre of the painting is recognised as a human face. However, only part of a face is visible. It can be read it as a “fading” creature, one that appears in dreams where the dreamer cannot identify the creature’s exact form and composition. Similarly, the mysterious caped, hooded person who appears in Kevin’s dream appears to be faceless. The mystery of the scene from SeaChange and the ambiguity of Dali’s Persistence of Memory, allows viewers to use imagination and possibility, essentially, as a reading device when constructing meaning.