Benjamin Franklin once said, "You may delay, but time will not." This is a valid statement in that time will never cease. An irrevocable hourglass in the sky that cannot ever be reached or seen marks the passing of time. Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory gives an interesting perspective on this fact. It shows how time can slip away, and how "could have beens, should have beens, and would have beens" are often prominent regrets for those who practice procrastination.
The foreground of Dali's painting shows a dark, arid land, which includes clocks that seem to be limp and transient. Time is slipping away and everything else is motionless. The painting also includes an odd, unknown animal that lies there seemingly lifeless with one of the melting clocks on its back. Some critics say this is Dali himself. This scene portrays a sense of defeat for the creature, as if time has taken over. In the background, there exists a totally opposite situation; it is bright and has the sense of love and victory. The good times are leaving while the creature is stuck in the bad times. People often are destroyed by time. They don't use it wisely. When one has conquered time, he/she knows how the World fuctions and does not want any rude epiphanies to occur. Such wisdom can be a great feeling but hard to accomplish. Then the plot thickens when time enters the equation. This changes everything . . .for the worse, some would say. Time can be a nasty factor in the road of life if not dealt with properly.
Dali's painting is a meaningful study. The painting shows how being prompt can have a huge impact on the future. What a person does now can have a future effect on him or her. The impact of this realization can get one thinking. Perhaps this can result in a lifestyle that abandons procrastination. That is exactly what this painting does for me. It serves as motivation to be on time and on task. In the future, when I am not in the mood to do something that needs to be done, I will visualize a print of Persistence of Memory and realize what can happen when time has run out and I am still not at the finish line. |
