Before I went to the Dali Exhibit, Salvador Dali was already one of my favorite painters. However, I learned so much more about Dali at the exhibit and I appreciate him as an artist so much more now. Not only was Dali a surrealist, but he also had a fascination with film. He believed that films were the extension of the dream world because of the reality versus illusion idea. So, many of his paintings used the film techniques and camera effects. The most interesting information about his life was that he was actually involved in the making of several short films and has had an influence on the filmmaking process. His surrealist ideas have affected many films since his time.

One of his first films was Un Chien Andalou, which he created with Luis Bunuell. Since Dali wrote the script, a lot of his ideas from his paintings were expressed through the film, especially the illusory images using a variety of film techniques. Scenes portraying disappearing mouths, ants appearing in hands, dismembered hands, illusion of nakedness, doors leading into other places and one actor playing to characters at the same time showed the ability of using film to create images that could never happen in real life. One of the most shocking scenes was the opening one in which the husband takes a razor and cuts into his wife’s eye. But it is done using a close-up to create the illusion that it is her eye, but it was actually a cow’s eye.

Dali also had an influence on other artists and performers, such as Andy Warhol, Alfred Hitchcock, The Marx Brothers and surprisingly even Walt Disney. He believed that Disney was one of the great surrealists. Dali actually worked on a short animated film with Disney in 1945, called Destino, which was not completed until 2003. Destino, which was about a mortal girl falling in love with the god, Kronos, used many of his paintings and drawings, such as the paranoiac-critical (optical illusion style created by Dali) image of Kronos, the melting clocks, the eyes and the ants. Dali also painted scenes for movies, such as the ballroom scene and dream sequence in Hitchcock’s Spellbound with Gregory Peck. The scenes also included some of Dali’s famous symbols, like eyes, twisted landscapes, and faceless figures. The lead character (Peck) also is seeing a psychiatrist, relating to Dali’s obsession with Freud and dreams.

Dali had a great influence on film, greater than I even knew about. His part in the avant-garde movement inspired filmmakers to think outside the box and create images that could only be see in the dream world not real life. Dali believed in pure cinema, which is film without a story, but instead evoking fantasies. Many movies and shows use dream sequences because of Dali. He also influenced independent films, horror films, psychedelic films and music videos, because of their non-traditional ideas in filmmaking. For example, I doubt Missy Elliot would make half the videos that she does now if it wasn’t for people like Dali. Dali definitely believe “Life is like a dream.”

Edward Steichen’s Joan Crawford (1932) uses few elements, such as an emphasis on contrast, to convey a deeper message. The focal point of the gelatin silver print (11” by 14”) photograph is Joan Crawford. It is a sharp photograph with high contrast of blacks, whites and few grays. In the foreground, Joan Crawford is dressed in a black robe and she has a white rose on the left side of her chest. Her robe puffs out onto the floor, which is made of wooden planks that have spots. Both of her hands with painted nails are on her left hip and her right arm crosses over her midsection. Joan’s face is in low-key lighting, which means it is half in shadow and half in light. Also, her eyes are downward, her lips pouted and one eyebrow is up. Her short hair is straight, but cascades into curls. To the right of her is a large, square cushioned seat, which she is leaning on, and has a white top and a dark gray bottom with a sewed line in the middle. In the background, there is a plain white wall that is dark at the top, but light at the bottom with shadows of her arms. At the right of the wall, there is a wide, black cloth and a slight shadow behind it.

The photograph itself gave a sense of tension and suppressed feelings within its simplicity. Joan’s half lit face presented a sense of uncertainty or conflict. Her raised eyebrow suggested a condescending look, as if she was trying to be strong or hide her feelings. But her pout, downward eyes and single presence gave off a feeling of sadness and loneliness. Also, she is leaning against the seat and holding her hips, and I felt that she was trying to hold herself up. I could relate to that emotion of trying to be strong and feeling as if no one is around to catch me when I fall.

Billie Holiday’s song, “Sophisticated Lady”, complements Joan Crawford because it conveys that sense of gracefulness yet loneliness portrayed in the photograph. It is a slow blues song that uses only piano, guitar and drums with a trumpet solo and resembles the simplistic nature of the photograph. The song’s title communicates the poised appearance of Joan Crawford. The two lyrics that reminds me of the photograph are “…with disillusion in your eyes” and “…and when nobody is nigh, you cry.” Joan Crawford’s eyes showed disappointment and she was alone like in the two lyrics. “Sophisticated Lady” matches the feeling of isolation that I saw in the photograph.

My choice of Steichen’s photograph shows that I am a minimalist when it comes to visual art. I was immediately drawn to picture because there was so little happening in the photograph. The simplicity enhanced its intensity and forced me to decipher the subtleties within it.