As a kid, I would regularly dream about falling, or flying, or floating off the upstairs balcony overlooking my parents’ kitchen. There was a railing, of course, to prevent this from actually happening, but in dreams, the railing never did much to deter me from squeezing or melting through the rails, or, most often, simply finding myself on the other side of it, my back pressed against the wooden spindles, toes hanging over the edge. And then down I’d go, sometimes of my own accord, sometimes not. Most of the time I would end up not really landing, and instead bounce back up into the air in almost-painful slow-motion toward my next destination.
I’m sure you’ve had similar dream experiences. This week, I’ve found three images that should assist in recalling the sensation (and then writing about it).
Julia Fullerton-Batten, Staircase, from In Between series, 2007. Photograph. www.juliafullerton-batten.com
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, Dream Fall, from Sentinels of Architect’s Brother, 2002. Photograph. www.parkeharrison.com
Joseba Elorza, Tornado. Collage illustration. www.miraruido.com
I spent the past week on a lake, listening to the loons call to each other through the night. This week, I believe it’s time for another ode to our feathered friends.
Taca Zhijie Sui, Lake of Tears from Odes of Ya series. Photograph. www.tacasui.com
Albrecht Dürer, Wing of a Blue Roller, 1512. Gouache and watercolor on vellum. Albertina, Vienna, Austria.
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, Flying Lesson, from Earth Elegies of Architect’s Brother, 2010. Photograph. www.parkeharrison.com
It’s late at night, and I should be sleeping. Instead, I’m sitting at my computer, staring at art. So why not make the best of it? This week, let’s all write about sleep.
As for tonight, I’ll consider my sleep-art collecting to be a little precursor to the real thing. Look out, bed, here I come.
Egon Schiele, Sleeping Figure with Blanket, 1910. Watercolor and charcoal on paper. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, Garden of Selves, 2001. Photograph. . www.parkeharrison.com
Andrew Wyeth, Marriage, 1993. Tempera on panel. Private collection.
Three Things: The Flying Machine Edition
Airplanes, hang gliders, hot air balloons, helicopters: there is no shortage of ways to fly in the sky these days. But what about a slightly more fantastical contraption? Let’s get a little creative with our tools of levitation this week and write about a flying machine. Need some help going fantastical? Fear not, here are three machines suited for the the most feverish of dreams.
Luigi Serafini, illustration from his Codex Seraphinianus, 1981. Published by Franco Maria Ricci.
Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, The Sower, 1993-94. Photograph. www.parkeharrison.com
Wills’s cigarette card, “Ader” Flying Machine, circa 1909-1912. Offset lithograph. The New York Public Library Collection, New York.
