Another evolution in Sometimes I Dream in Technicolor

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A new development

sometimes i dream in technicolor has evolved!

Each dream will still be interpreted and entered into the blog and incorporated into a series of zines.  

They will then be illustrated using acrylics, collage, and mixed media on 7"x9" panels, which will be scanned into the computer and fashioned into a large accordion book.  Each panel will still be coded with a number and a letter to help viewers decipher where in the fabric of this collective dreamscape each dream manifests.  

These images will also be incorporated into an animation to accompany the project.  The Research Assistant character that I play in the performative dream collection aspect of this project, will be cartooned into a stop motion animation in which the character will tumble through the dreamscape, moving from scene to scene to scene.

Shannon

The Dream:

The house I grew up in, in Willowbrook IL.  was a tumultuous house in my life.  It was a sort of 1950s ranch size home.  My brother lived upstairs and my mom, father, and I had main level.  I walked  down corridor to my bedroom.  And as I walked into the bedroom and lay down on the bed, I got really sick. I was sweating and feverishly tossing and turning in my bed. 

The bed was pushed up beside 3 windows with silver accordion shades.  Still lying down, I pulled one open and I saw this immense storm cloud, like a cyclone, coming right for my room.  The window burst open and I knew the cyclone was going to come into the room and kill me.  I thought ‘I need to run over to my mom’s room to protect her’, because she was way sicker than I was.  She had cancer.  So I got myself up and  ran to my mom’s room.  Upon opening the door, I tried to tell my dad that the cyclone was coming, but that I was really sick, and that we had to save my mom.  

So my dad, my mom, and I started talking about what to do.  My mom rolled over but she couldn’t quite reach, so she ended up pointing to where there were all of these bags of old clothes in the closet. They were my mom’s old clothes, but what they actually were was storm gear in case of an apocalypse.  My mom had all this stuff that was going to save us from the storm and the apocalypse.  She was wearing a brown and white floral scarf, a white Italian silk scarf with brown flowers on it, on her head.  I remember that scarf vividly.  She rolled over to grab the bags, but was too weak.  So we woke up my dad, who had been asleep.  We didn’t particularly want to do because waking up my dad was like walking into the lion’s den.  So after risking the consequences, my dad knew he has to take care of us and he made it clear that this is a royal pain in the ass.  

My parents were on their bed with a green Amish quilt and I was sitting on the foot of the bed to talking to them, like I used to when I was a child.  The closet with the storm gear/clothes was directly across from me.  It took up the whole west side of the room.  So my mom tries to roll over and then my dad rolls over, sits on my mom, and tries to help her get undressed so she can get into her apocalypse suit.  This is an ordeal because she is so weak and can’t move.  My dad is getting really frustrated and angry. And I’m sick, so all I can do is talk to my mom.  My dad is complaining.  As he’s complaining--this is the most prominent part of dream--I’m thinking, ‘oh no, maybe we shouldn’t irritate my dad this much, maybe it’s bad we’re sick.’  But then my mom rolls over as I’m thinking this and she stops me from trying to help my dad help her.  She gives me a big smile and a wink.  When I woke up I remembered the wink which was saying like “no, karma b****.  He needs to take care of us now.  He needs to be a father and husband, he needs to step up.”

 

Interpretation:

Mother, which is so prominent in this dream, is symbolic of a wise, nurturing, protecting force.  It can also signify a secret, hidden psychological issue that needs to be addressed.  Also, Mother is associated the receptive and compassionate aspects of human nature and with giving correct advice, a message from another realm.  The wink from Mother which carried so much weight in this dream is also a message. 

Feeling sick or weak is indicative of a heightened need for self protection, discomfort or uncertainty in waking life, a literal physical/mental/spiritual ailment, and may be the cue from your subconscious that someone is exerting too much power over you.  Storm gear/clothing is an indicator of mood/emotional state and a need to protect oneself from perceived outside harm.  Putting on the apocalypse clothing in the dream parallels putting up emotional or protective barriers.  Is “Mother” sending you a message to protect yourself from harm?

The cyclone is an obstacle, a storm of emotions, a bad omen, or is indicative of quarrelling.  Are you at odds with an authority figure in your life whom you feel the need to protect yourself against?  Cyclones also represent the climate of a personal relationship, a need for change, major challenges in life experiences, and emotional problems or upsets.  What is upsetting you so?

The vivid silver shades that obscure the cyclone in the beginning of the dream refer to emotions or attitudes/biases that are preventing clear insight.  They are conveying a spiritual message that perhaps you can’t see something, that you may not be taking responsibility for something, or that you are reflecting on something.  What is troubling you?  The silver shades are bidding you to follow your intuition.  The other colors that seemed to stand out in the dream were brown and white, in the scarf Mother was wearing.  Brown signifies a connectedness, vitality, groundedness, low energy, and growth.  While white represents a wise person, the feminine, wholeness, spirituality, high consciousness, and the presence of spirit. 

The fact that Mother was wearing the brown and white may indicate that she is the messenger.  The cyclone could be a reflection of your emotional state or the state of a possibly destructive relationship in your life.  Perhaps the message Mother is trying to convey is that you need to put up emotional/mental barriers to protect yourself from the negativity related to this state or relationship?  Or is it possible that the emotions surrounding this situation are obscuring your intuition and insight?  Do you need to seek out advice from wise, receptive, nurturing, and compassionate person in your life?


(a-3)

revision/evolution of sometimes i dream in technicolor

sometimes i dream in technicolor, is a multiphase project in which I take on three distinct roles.  This is the updated project statement:

 

Firstly, I am the research assistant.  I go out into the community in my lab coat armed with my laptop and voice recorder to collect dreams that participants are willing to share with me.  I will be interviewing each participant about a particularly vivid dream s/he has had.  The interview process involves taking dictation as well as recording the participant’s recollection of the dream. 

 

In the second role, I play the dream analyst.  I interpret each dream based on major symbols, emotions, imagery, etc. present in the retelling of the dream.  The dreams and interpretations are then posted to a blog as well as incorporated into a series of zines. 

 

The final phase of this project finds me in the role of the Artist.  I am illustrating each dream on a 7”x9” panel using mixed media.  The panels will then be scanned, which allows me to make prints of each one.  I will also be using the scans to create a large accordion book approximately 2 feet tall that folds out several feet across the room.  This book will be gridded with letters down the side and numbers across the top.  Each dream and interpretation will be coded with these letters and numbers so viewers can then relate which image goes with which dream and interpretation. 

 

When the project is installed, the zines with the coded dreams and interpretations will be available, and the book will be unfolded across the room, the 7"x9" panels will be tacked to the wall, while the audio of the interviews loops overhead, creating a multisensory experience.  Viewers and participants alike can use the zines or blog to decode which dream factors where into this large collective dreamscape.

 

Sadie

The Dream:

I was lying in bed with my eyes closed about to go to sleep when I passed my tongue over my teeth and I felt a broken tooth.  I started feeling around my mouth with my tongue and as I touched my teeth they broke and crumbled.  I started spitting out bits of broken tooth.  The more I investigated with my tongue the more they broke until I all I could feel was the sharp edges of broken tooth and the smooth gum tissue where my teeth used to be.  This entire time, everything was pitch black, all dark.  It was a totally tactile experience.  I felt mounting anxiety and terror as the upper teeth on the right side disintegrated and fell out.  I woke up but it was hard to tell where the dream ended and reality began. I had awoken in the middle of the night, so it was still dark.  I wasn’t all that sure I was dreaming, until I realized my teeth were still in my mouth.

Interpretation:

Having teeth fall out and break can symbolize a loss of friendships or relationships, waning vitality, insecurity, and especially anxiety.  It also connects to the process of growing up/changing, starting a new phase of life, or a radical change going from old to new.  It can also represent concern with self image.  And is symbolic of one’s words/what one says.  Perhaps you’ve misspoken? 

Darkness or a lack of imagery can indicate fear of people, emotions, thoughts, actions, and situations that are not understood by the dreamer.  It can also mean secrets and a need to become more aware.  To be in the dark is to be without wisdom, knowledge, or insight; it is coming into contact with your fears.

(a-2)

Howard

The Dream:

We were indoors exploring these shifting environments, my friend/lover Sarah Michelle Gellar and I.  As we explored the environments would change; from the familiar, my current apartment, to the foreign or strange; a hotel, then a flophouse, and finally another apartment, though that one resembled the assisted living communities I worked in.  Although the environments shifted there was continuity; everything was dimly lit, dingy, and there were red & black pentagrams and blood all over the floors and the walls, everywhere.  Naked and covered in blood, Sarah Michelle Gellar was also a witch and she remained close to me as we explored, it was very intimate.  For a while, we were exploring these rooms and compartments alone, but then people started appearing.  They didn’t enter the rooms through doors or anything like that, they more just manifested in space.  It didn’t feel strange though, it felt natural the way they just appeared.  After appearing, people would start using heroin and having sex.  Sarah Michelle Gellar didn’t want to use heroin, but in the end she did and afterwards it was fine.  There was no real narrative, just a shifting of environments and emotions; lust, longing, horror; and anxiety over the drug use.  I remember waking up puzzled and amused.

 Interpretation:

Lust and longing are driving forces in this dream.  Blood is symbolic of the soul and passion.  Specifically the eroticism of blood symbolizes passion for living.  Pentagrams are associated with the power of thought, creation, imagination, the unconscious, and untapped potential. The color red that appears in both the blood and the pentagrams is related to energy and lust.   The naked female form (Ms. Gellar) relates to sexuality as well as individuality and a longing for connectedness and nurturance.  With Sarah Michelle Gellar cast as a witch, she may be offering advice.  Drug use is associated with escapism and relinquishment of personal will, however, it is also a message to be more awake, more clear, and more focused.  Is there something that Sarah Michelle Gellar could be trying to tell you to be more awake, clear, and focused about in order to increase your feeling of connection?  Perhaps changing focus, ways of thinking, or employing some creativity will help you utilize untapped potential.

(a-1)

Launch

"Sometimes I Dream in Technicolor" is finally ready to launch.  I spent last weekend in the print studio creating the posters to distribute to participants and I will begin collecting "data" (dreams) this week sometime.  Please feel free to participate, offer feedback, etc.  Let's get this off the ground!

These are the posters--letterpress printed with wood type and polymer plate