Dali

Dali in Paris

Dali

In August, 2016, I travelled to France, via a ferry, on a three day trip to Paris, in order to visit the Dali exhibition. The building itself, however, was fairly tucked away, in the back allies, as it was evidently not, a huge tourist attraction, although paragraphs of what was written, were in English as well as French. Once inside, within was disclosed may of the works that he created in his lifetime, and a few short films about his life, including his sculpture 'Space Elephant', as well paintings that incorporated this same element. These abnormal creatures represent Humanity's desire to reach ever higher and how we are shackled to the earth, by gravity. As well as this, there were sculptures, such as 'Lady With A Head Of Roses', made out of brass, which included Dali's crutches, that in some cases symbolise weakness however in other examples, such as this, present women as the stronger sex. Others of Dali's works, display ants, that are used to propose the idea of death, decay or sexual desire. Drawers, that are featured in many of his works of art, cite the storage of sins or secrets, and when they are open, it implies that all that is hidden in the unconscious mind, is bared for all the world to see, and judge. One of my personal favorite of Dali's works, that was on display, was 'Lady With A Head Of Roses', due to the symbolism and the sense of elegance, that is illustrated.

I used this experience as inspiration for my poem and accompanying glass piece, 'Utopian Dreams'.

For this, I used opaque backing glass, but also capped and uncapped dichroics on black and clear glass. The difference between black and clear based dichroics is marked. On black it shines with vibrant rainbows and on clear there is a subtle shimmer. When there is other glass colours underneath the clear dichroic, these can be seen, as that is not the case with black-based dichroic glass. This was the first piece I cut using a professional glass saw, rather with a hand-cutter, which allowed me to cut a much more complicated shape rather than a straight line.

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5 Comments

  • Luke Taylor

    On 25 September 2017, 10:19 Luke Taylor Contributor commented:

    Sounds amazing!

  • Angelina Thakrar

    On 29 September 2017, 08:02 Angelina Thakrar commented:

    It's an amazing exhibition. I liked your review of it too.

  • Carol Leach

    On 29 September 2017, 16:03 Carol Leach commented:

    I love this exhibition, it is difficult to find through the back alleys isn't it, but worth the effort. This is a nice balanced review and effective.

  • Ely Leach

    On 30 September 2017, 09:25 Ely Leach commented:

    I do like your review, it's very interesting, I liked the glass piece that you made too - so surreal!

  • Abi Rose Leach

    On 30 September 2017, 09:33 Abi Rose Leach commented:

    very good review, you give just a little taste of Paris too. I had to look up the 'lady with the head of roses' as I don't recall finding it before, it's such a strange piece but very effective. The meaning of the symbolism of Dali often eludes me, and it's a difficult task to try to capture his essence as he purposefully and playfully made it difficult.

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