Title: The Persistence of Memory_eTwinning_Romania
1The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali
Task 2
Mihail Kogalniceanu High-school, Constanta,
Romania
2(Cristina Stoica, 10th grade)
3 Salvador Dali manages to demonstrate his talent
in surrealism not only through his works, but
also through his colourful personality. In my
opinion, this image includes three melting
clocks, a cold beach and an empty tree, which,
for me, means the imperceptible passage of time.
People are just too busy with their work to see
other things coming to them. In the
first place, I have always liked surrealism, both
in painting and in poetry. This means of
communication reflects, I believe, the awareness
of our existence in the world. Nowadays, people
are too busy to see the good or bad things coming
into their lives, but they can distinguish the
difference between relevant and irrelevant
objects. For example, I would like to spend more
time with my family and friends, but because I
want to apply for academy I have to make time to
learn more and more to pass the exam
In the second place, other people say that
Dalis paint The Persistence of Memory is a
state of subjectivity of time, of the fact that
feelings and things truly important to us are not
measured in minutes, months or years, but the
value they bring to the fulfilment and
non-fulfilment of our destiny. For example, my
mother told me that time is not important when
you love someone or you like something. She means
that you can make time for people you think are
important to you. All in all, The
Persistence of Memory is a painting that makes
people think about the time they are losing.
(Simona Puscuta, 11th grade)
4We can be a hero and a saviour by our own This
painting shows that time doesnt stay still in
this world and there can be no life without
darkness and light. Time doesnt stay still in
this world?" will you ask, but before you
continue to compare my way of thinking to yours,
let me explain. The time isnt a girl who stays
with you just for money, time isnt a car or
something else, time is a treasure that we cant
afford to pay or steal. That time when you read
this is now past and you cant take it back (it
is your problem now, you read this). Of course,
you will ask again There can be no life
without darkness and light? (I read your mind
isnt it). Life can be sometimes a maleficent
creature, but sometimes it can be even worse.
But these words are a shield for the bright side
of things, the things that God has given us, a
warm bed and a family. (Andrei Stefan Gogu,
11th grade)
5 I have in front of me ta masterpiece of Salvador
Dali, an expression of surrealism. It is an image
that has the intention to make the person looking
at it ask questions and interpret in various ways
what they see in front of their eyes. We can
notice that the prevailing image is a clock that
is melting. It is placed in three different
places, presenting an important meaning. At first
you might see it on the branch of a tree without
leaves, then you will most probably see the one
on the horse that is on the ground, and in the
end, there is the one on the pile of dirt which
could represent the grave of a person. The clock
shows the inevitable end of what life means,
flora, fauna and human life. Salvador Dali
succeeds in bringing all these together in the
form of the time that pierces everyone, but the
effect of this scar made by this arrow can only
be seen at ones last moment. In the picture we
can also see a feather and some bugs placed on
the clock right near the three elements. The
background is simple, made only of water, skies,
land and a strange wilderness, which shows that
in the last moments of life, ones soul only
seeks peace in loneliness. The gathering of the
three elements is not aleatory, because, dirt is
the element of the human creation, but also of
the entire nature, water represents the symbol of
life and regeneration, the sky is the symbol of
faith in a divinity or a place where the soul
will go after death. Salvador Dali succeeds also
in adding colours that make us think of aa
distressing landscape, with brown as the dominant
colour. With this work of art he is trying to
send us an important message, with different
elements that make the person that is looking
interpret any detail of it. We all depend on
time! (Georgiana Onofrei-Rusu, 11th grade)
6First of all, this painting is an illustration of
Salvador Dalis studies like psychoanalysis. He
tries to contour a dream phase and the painting
contains a self-portrait over which he draped a
soft watch. For Dali, these soft watches
represent what he called the Camembert of time,
suggesting that the concept of time had lost all
meaning in the unconscious world. The ants
crawling over the pocket watch suggest decay, an
absurd notion given the fact that the watch is
metallic. These images reflect the paranoia and
latent desires of human mind, such as the
unconscious fear of death. (Alexandra Tanase,
11th grade)
7Salvador Dali started the surrealism concept and
he wanted to challenge people. His inspiration
was his wife Gala, who was older than him. This
painting is one of the most famous and
recognisable paintings of Salvador Dali. When I
look at this piece of art it makes me feels
anxious, because I realise how fast time is
running out and time is very special and it also
doesnt come back. (Elena Preda, 11th grade)
8 Time is one of the important fundamental
concepts without which we can not imagine the
events in our lives. Every moment must be lived
to the fullest because we never know what life
offers us today and tomorrow. For a split second
it can dry up everything, we run out of anything
and then we regret that we didnt do the right
thing at the right time. Time is special,
especially when we are with the loved ones, it
passes very quickly. Everything that is needed
and we want to do must happen today, not
tomorrow, everything comes and goes suddenly.
There have been many times when I went through
certain moments too quickly or I didnt say what
I felt when I had the chance because I thought I
would meet those moments again. Unfortunately, in
time, I regretted this because I didnt do or
say what I felt, things that could have changed
something. In life, everything is unpredictable,
especially moments in time. (Andreea Stan, 11th
grade)
9time