Believe in the beauty of your dreams

The concept for this project is still a major work in progress. I have always wanted to do some kind of surrealistic impression or interpretation of my dreams. Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists not only because he was completely eccentric, off the wall, and an out-of-the-box thinker, but I find that his paintings really challenge the viewer in such a unique way; they make you feel slightly uncomfortable, slightly in awe and slightly curious. You're not sure what you're supposed to feel when looking at them, nor are you sure of what it is exactly that you're looking at. I have always been one to probe to find a deeper meaning in things, to go beneath the surface, and that's exactly what you do when you look at a Dali painting. Surrealism is the rendering of dreams in literature, art or music, and that is what I want my project to rooted in.


Dreaming is fascinating. I often wake up after a dream to write down a few keywords I can remember from it, or even a sketch or a quick doodle. Every psychologist under the sun has their own explanation and interpretation of our dreams, but really, scientists say that they are just neurons in our brain firing back and forth while we sleep, creating these vivid images and scenarios. But what about when you dream and you see or meet a person that you've never seen before? Is it a compilation of all your favorite faces you've ever seen melded together? What about premonitions, when people dream things before they happen? What about lucid dreaming, where you are actually able to control what is happening because you are aware of the fact you are dreaming? Or dreaming about things that are totally impossible for humans to feel, like flying or transforming into another species. These are some ideas I would love to explore in this project. I want to create some kind of connection between the world of our dreams and the real world we live in, what influences us to have these dreams? Does the immersion into our dream worlds come with such a certain vividness and intensity, that we sometimes start to expect the real world to imitate it? James Cameron's completely immersive film "Avatar" may have been a little too real as many people experienced depression and even suicidal thoughts after seeing it, because they longed to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora. Pandora is this pristine world and there is this synergy between all of the creatures of the planet, so perhaps it is that which strikes a deep chord within the viewers. James Cameron's dream is built out of the same things that other peoples' dreams are made of. It is pretty wild to think about, given that 'Avatar' is essentially a piece of art.


Now I am in no shape, way or form saying I am going to create anything remotely close to 'Avatar'. But in short,  I want to create a hyper-real experience that stimulates the senses, a virtual reality or dreamscape in New York City. I would love for the project to end up being an interactive scrolling series, of photo manipulation, video, and sound. It would encompass my photography, typography, composition / layout, video, photo manipulation, editing, sound design and hopefully, some user interactivity (the most daunting part) And all shot here in New York City. 

Dream Job

I believe every single person is born with a very specific talent or skill. I don't mean "she was born to be a singer" but rather, "she was born to move people through storytelling." Whether she becomes a singer, painter, writer, is actually somewhat irrelevant.  I also believe that these skills are very rarely realized, so most people spend their whole lives wedged into an incompatible system, trying desperately to make ends meet. In terms of money, people work to make money. But if we had a behavioral shift where people "contributed" their time for a cause, rather than "worked" for a boss, the long term effect would truly be rewarding. It seems as though anybody can make money doing anything these days. There are no limitations. I mean, really, when a fellow peer says to me, "I would LOVE to work in marketing for a large corporation," I almost want to reply, "Really? I mean, really?" If that's your dream, then go for it. But for some reason, the day-to-day work of non-stop phone calls, floods of emails, inter-office politics, outsourced HR, glass ceilings, computer meltdowns, backstabbing, difficult clients, unrealistic expectations, decreasing budgets, and the comical notion of a work-life balance is certainly not something that I dream about.

My personal dream job would be to bring happiness to a specific audience, who in turn could bring happiness to their own audience. This “dream job’ for me, is the creation of a product. An object. A piece of art. A piece of me? Something which I have made that will be loved and treasured by another - it spreads my happiness and reflects my love of my dream job. Also, my dream job should evolve with me - if my loves and interests take a new route, so does this dream job of mine - we adapt to one another. It's a creature of sorts, this dream job. I think this whole idea of people having to work 50 or 60 hours a week is bullshit --  I've done it. And we, as employees and consumers, have to figure out a way to reclaim the system for ourselves. It is already starting to happen with the boom of small startups and college graduates putting together their own business teams. Finally, and most importantly, I want to believe in what i have created. I want to do well, and do good. I want my work to have value and purpose, for it to be long lasting. It is the most important thing. I am still trying to figure out if a position exists for me out there that will encompass all of these qualities, and if it doesn't exist, well, I may just have to create it.

Typography Swipe

Imagery Swipe

Color Swipe

First test-post.

Inspiration for the major project to come shortly.