Magritte’s dreams lives on in Gondry’s reality

At an early age, infamous painter Rene Magritte lost his mother to suicide. His work suggests a conversation between very real objects and unreal situations or environments. Perhaps, more is being said here. He spoke often about surrealism which merely means dreams. When someone describes a moment as being surreal they usually mean that though they know they’re alive they cannot believe their dream is coming true, hence the shared cry, ‘Pinch me!’

Similarly, in the French 2006 film Science of Sleep (or La Science des reves) a young artist played authentically by Gael Garcia Bernal consumes bereavement through his childhood bedroom and dreams. As if his unconscious and conscious were blurred his dreams seem so real that he forgets he’s sleeping but not exactly sleepwalking. One of the most important film contributions of the 21st Century, Michel Gondry directs this story realistically and emphatically. Even the tale revolves around speaking in different languages naturally so as if reality we’re indeed a dream.

The beauty in all of this surrounds the fact that humans have the ability to create and so they may. It becomes crucial that they do every day in some little way. It’s only natural. At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rene Magritte is featured online in Making Sense of Modern Art and Language and Perception. The point in dreams could be just as simple as taking an active part in envisioning one’s life. If not, there will be dreams banging down the door in your sleep, haunting the daylight hours or worse nightmares not understood. Choose to dream, especially awake.