Blog 2: An analysis of the “Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dalí
I have always admired eerie and surrealist paintings, specifically Salvador Dalí’s depictions of time and decaying material. Every time I encounter Dalí’s painting, The Persistence of Memory, I feel that it represents something different each time I see it.
When I first tried to analyze the painting, I concluded that Dalí was illustrating his belief in Einstein’s theory of relativity—the idea that time passes differently depending on an object's gravity and speed. In this painting, gravity does not play a factor in the rate time passes since all the objects exist within the same space. However, the rate of decay for each object is evident. The white-colored object on the ground resembles a person’s face, with the eyelashes and nose clearly visible. However, the face has loose and limber skin, suggesting that the person has recently died. A clock lays limply over the face, implying that a certain amount of time has passed since the moment of death.
Right next to teh face, there is a tree with another clock on it that reads 6:00. The the fact that the tree has no leaves symbolizes the passage of time, but unlike the face, the tree itself is not dead. Instead, its leaves have fallen due to the changing seasons. The clocks in the painting suggest that the same amount of time has passed for both the decayed face and the tree. Although the exact time on the clock over the face is unclear, the matching minute hand positions indicate that the same amount of time has passed for both objects.
This aligns with the theory of relativity, as different objects do in fact, experience time differently. The face in the painting represents a human who has died, while the tree has simply changed due to the time of year. This could be because trees, being immobile, experience time more slowly than humans, who move freely and, therefore, perceive time and death at a faster rate.
Beyond illustrating the relativity of time, the painting also depicts the process of decay. First, an organism dies, represented by the white face. Then, time and seasons pass, symbolized by the tree, as the body decays. Finally, insects, such as flies and ants, decompose the body. In the painting, a fly is positioned on a clock beneath the tree, while a group of ants crawl to help “decompose” an older clock nearby. Dalí likely included these insects to represent the natural process of decomposition and the transfer of energy from one life form to the next.
I believe that there are many different ways to interpret Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, as there are many layers to unpack within the painting. Each object, texture, and color seems to symbolize something that contributes to its overall meaning. Ultimately, I feel that Dalí intentionally left his painting open to interpretation, allowing viewers to understand it based on their point of view.
-Farrah Fahl
