How to Remember your Dreams & Tap into Creativity: Tips from a Lithuanian Surrealist

Dreams are a bottomless well of inspiration. We surrealists have tapped into this well for nearly a hundred years, ever since André Breton founded the Bureau of Surrealist Enquiries (Centrale Surréaliste) in 1924 in order to "gather all the information possible related to forms that might express the unconscious activity of the mind". On October 15, 1924, Breton published the first Surrealist Manifesto thus founding the basis for the surrealist movement, which continues to thrive internationally through various Surrealist groups such as, Prague Surrealist Group, Paris Surrealist group, London Surrealist Group, and the Chicago Surrealist Group. Prominent members include: author, activist & doyenne of American Surrealist Movement, Penelope Rosemont (Chicago); filmmaker Jan Svankmajer  (Prague); filmmaker Václav Svankmajer (Prague); zoologist, author, painter,  Desmond Morris (Oxford), and many others.

If you ever wondered what it's like down the rabbit-hole of your subconscious, 

this is a step-by-step guide on how to get there.

Work inspired by my dreams "Pandora's Stage" and Medieval illuminated manuscript style dream book

I've been a lucid dreamer since childhood. I have my step-grandfather to thank for getting me in the habit of recalling my dreams for him every morning. As a teen, I was inspired to create my medieval illuminated dream manuscript.  Inspired by Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts which pre-dated Guttenberg's printed Bibles, this work is meditative in its undertaking. I received a lovely fountain pen as a Christmas present. That, in turn, inspired me to experiment with a wide spectrum of calligraphic styles. I decided to use Gothic Blackletter calligraphy (12th c. forward) throughout much of the book.

 This example contains illustrations and letterheads of my designs. Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman's illustrator of "Sandman" drew the anthropomorthic human face (lower right center), and Neil Gaiman signed above it. The Alice in Wonderland illustration is enlarged and coloured in pencil by me.

How to remember Dreams:

What you will need:
1. eyemask
2. earplugs
3. handheld digital recorder

An eyemask blocks out light as you wake up. This is important because the hypnopompic state, which is the transitional stage of consciousness leading out of sleep (as opposed to the hypnagogic state, which is the transition into sleep), is very sensitive and propels you into wakefulness if you don't buffer reality. Therefore, it's best to block as much out as possible (sound, sight, etc).
(The hypnagogic state is rational waking cognition trying to make sense of non-linear images and associations; the hypnopompic state is emotional and credulous dreaming cognition trying to make sense of real world stolidity.) 

What to do:
1. Don't set a sound alarm. Instead, set something, like a phone, to vibrate you into wakefulness. Sound will only erode a dream.

2. Practice being mindful of the exact moment when you awaken. Once you are concious of the fact that you just woke up, don't move. Stay in place. You may be tempted to roll over, get up to go to the bathroom, etc. Don't move at all.

3. Recall one small detail of your dream. Remembering anything, no matter how minor, will help you "grasp the tail of your dream." Dreams are like a creature trying to run away from you. Grab one detail and don't let it go. Focus on that one detail. Practice concentrating on that one aspect and you will notice that, over time, everything else surrounding that detail will come into focus. From that point, you will recall whole chunks, then the entire dream. This process takes time and practice. It may be weeks before you can pull an entire dream up from your subconscious.

4. Think of your dream as a film which you can rewind and play over. Once you have the details, you can go back to the earliest memory you have of it and press "play." This part I call "recapping." During this stage, you can speak out what you remember. Saying it out load will enhance your memory of it. Pay extremely close attention to the surroundings and details in the dream. Think of yourself as Sherlock Holmes. Leave no detail out (describe colours, sensations, smells, tastes, sounds, feelings, texture of fabrics, layout of rooms, etc).

5. Once you're done recapping, grab your handheld digital recorder, press "record" and recap out load again. You can always feel free to add details at the end which you overlooked/forgot. Remember what the King in "Alice in Wonderland" says, "Begin at the beginning, and go on until you come to the end; then stop."

I have been a member of the Chicago Surrealist Group since 1998. I met Penelope and Franklin Rosemont at the Printer's Row Book Fair that year. I attended various group meetings and had too much fun playing surrealist games such as An Exquisite Corpse, and Time Traveler's Potlatch (both of which are on the Chicago Surrealist Group website and published in the book Surrealist Subversions: Rants, Writings & Images by the Surrealist Movement in the United States.

I do illustration, experimental self-portraits (think Claude Cahun, but with lots of reflections), Zeitgeist Costuming, and music (singling in English, Russian, German, Lithaunian, and French). See my youtube: DainaSurrealism (see video below).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STRANGE INTERLUDE: My Dream, Time-Travel inspired band, "Hypnagogic Telegram" is going VIRAL on Youtube. I play a literal personification of a Time Ghost (Zeitgeist) that inhabits the wardrobe closet in the TARDIS. I come out in costumes from various eras to dance & sing in styles from those eras. If Doctor Who would have a band, it might sound like this. Timelord Rock. Trock. 

<---- View YOUTUBE VIDEO here.
On FACEBOOK @ HYPNAGOGIC TELEGRAM

Check out my Time Travel, Dream, surreal artwork, performance art, costuming & photography on the other blog pages!

Review of The Adventures of Cheburashka & Friends DVD (dir. Roman Kachanov) Чебура́шкa

 
Based on the Russian children’s book Cheburashka (1965) by Eduard Uspensky, this series of four stop-motion animated shorts features Cheburashka, a cheerful bear-like creature, and his best friend, Gena, a crocodile who works at the Zoo but lives in the city. Cheburashka is almost Chaplinesque in how he combines charm and melancholy when he tries to find his place where nobody knows what he is or where he came from (even the scientists at the Zoo reject him because they don’t know what species he is!). The animation style is charming and sentimental, without the stereotypical characters and sappiness so often found in Disney animation. The characters are unique and full of personality. Gena plays solitaire chess and puts up fliers throughout the city looking for friends; Shapoclyak, an old lady who has a rat living in her purse, goes breaking windows, stealing things, and causing general chaos.

Much of the incidental music is played on violins, acoustic guitars, and/or accordions, giving it an almost chanson feel. Two of the episodes feature catchy songs with endearing, sentimental lyrics. Episode 2, called Cheburashka, opens on a rainy day with Gena playing accordion and singing "The Birthday Song".

“It’s unclear to the passersby,
On this rainy day,
Why I’m so happy…It’s a shame that a birthday comes just once a year”

Shapoclyak (episode3) closes with Cheburashka, Shapoclyak, and Gena sitting on the caboose of a blue train. As they roll away, Gena plays the accordion and sings "Blue Wagon".

“Slowly the minutes are floating away

Don’t expect to meet them anymore

Even if giving up the past is a bit sad

It’s still best to go ahead…

To all new adventures we are rushing, my friends,

Hey, train driver, give some more speed!

Why, oh, why is this day ending?

Let it last the whole year!”

These songs are tremendously popular in all of the former Soviet republics. Adults sing these Cheburashka songs at parties; children sing them as they play. Russia has a long tradition of fairy-tales (skaski) being a major part of its cultural identity, much the same way that bande dessinée (comic books) are part of French and Belgian culture, with adults being equally fans of the genre as children. The line between fairy-tales and cartoons (multiki) is blurred in Russian culture with Cheburashka being the most famous and beloved of all Russian cartoon characters. He has become a cultural icon. Cheburashka is the official mascot of the Russian Olympic team, seen as the stuffed toy waved around by all their athletes at the opening and closing ceremonies since the Summer Olympics in Greece in 2004. He has become popular in Japan and among anime fans internationally. TV Tokyo has announced that it is producing an anime series of Cheburashka, as well as producing a full length feature.

Cheburashka was produced by Soyuzmultfilm (Union Animation in English), Russia’s premier animation company based in Moscow, which was founded in 1936 and has produced over 1500 animated shorts and films in that time. Soyuzmultfilm stands out as both a highly productive and experimental company. Their productions span a wide spectrum of styles; from vibrant films with dancing and singing, to sparsely atmospheric films with odd sound effects, to cut-out animations of 14th - 16th century icons and frescos, to  dark animation reminiscent of Jan Svankmayer’s surrealist shorts. Themes include such diverse subjects as history, fairy-tales, science fiction, existentialism, the cost of war, and feelings of social isolation amongst others.

The English subtitles on this DVD are well translated, although the subtitles on the last episode (Cheburashka goes to School) are a bit out-of-sync (running about 2 sentences behind the actual dialogue), but since the action isn’t so fast, it is still easy to follow. Cheburashka is a treasure from Soviet-era Russia. Hauntingly beautiful music and melancholy lyrics combine with amiable characters for an incomparably unique stop-motion experience for all ages.

As an added treat, we get Vasili Livanov voicing Krokodil Gena. He has a velvety rich voice which is familiar to Russian fans of a series of "Sherlock Holmes"films. He played Sherlock so splendidly, that he was awarded an honourary Member of the British Empire  for his "service to the theatre and the performing arts." A sculpture of Livanov and Vitaly Solomin (who played John Watson) in their now-famous roles, finds its home alongside the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow. He is a brilliant actor, and his distinctive and melodic voice is worth hearing even if you don't speak/understand Russian. Benedict Cumberbatch and Vasili Livanov share a) the fact that they both played distinctively different and unforgettable versions of Sherlock Holmes, and b0 they are both immaculately smooth voice actors. If language is music, than their voices are harmonious melodies.

The DVD runs 67 minutes and is in the original Russian with the option of English subtitles.

4 episodes: Crocodile Gena (1969), Cheburashka (1971), Shapoclyak (1974), Cheburashka Goes to School (1983). 

http://www.dexigner.com/news/7757


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STRANGE INTERLUDE: My Dream, Time-Travel inspired band, "Hypnagogic Telegram" is going VIRAL on Youtube. Timelord Rock. Trock. I play a timeghost (zeitgeist) that inhabits the wardrobe closet in the TARDIS. I come out in costumes from various eras to dance & sing. If Doctor Who would have a band, it might sound like this.

<---- View YOUTUBE VIDEO here.
On FACEBOOK @ HYPNAGOGIC TELEGRAM

Check out my Time Travel, Dream, surreal artwork, performance art, costuming & photography on the other blog pages!