Dream/Sleeping Research

I am drawn towards the idea of dreams and sleeping on my brainstorm of Imagination and Mystery, I think it's something that affects everyone deeply; there's no one who hasn't dreamed, no one who hasn't had nightmares, and no one who hasn't wondered what their dreams could mean. There's a danger however with looking at dreams, a danger of doing what people have done countless times before, but I'm hoping with indepth research I'll find something new about it, something mysterious, something imaginative.

What are dreams?

Dreams are flashing images, sequences of events that happen when we are asleep and leave an impression when we wake up for a short time, which are often forgotten, and can be completely random or very relevant to what's happening in our lives. The purpose of dreams however are a mystery, despite numerous theories with roots in both science and myth. Prophetic dreams, messages One popular interpretation of dreams are as messages from the divine. There are countless instances in myth and legend that recount dreams as either telling the future or bearing messages from superior forces. Like Joseph in the Bible, who dreamed he saw the sun (father), the moon (mother) and eleven stars (brothers) bow down to him. It was a dream which caused his brothers to be jealous of him, and sell him into slavery. After refusing the advances of his Master's wife (who in retaliation accused him of attempting to seduce her) he was thrown into prison where he interpreted the dreams of two people also thrown in; one was the Pharaoh's chief cup bearer, the other was his chief baker. Joseph interpreted their dreams to reveal that the chief cup bearer would be reinstalled in his office, while the chief baker would be hanged. The cup bearer remembered this when the Pharaoh himself was troubled by a dream where seven thin cows ascended from the river and devoured seven fat cows. Joseph interpreted this as meaning there would be seven years of good harvest, following by seven years of famine, and as a result was able to help the Pharaoh put away surplus for the seven years of famine. Joseph is just one of many people mentioned in the bible who has experienced dreams as an omen or message from the divine.

Creative uses of dreams

 Even today dreams remain a mystery, with theories left right and centre trying to explain them. Some however have been known to use their dream's creative and imaginative natures to their advantage, such as music artist Lady Gaga, who recently revealed that her weird dress sense and over the top stage shows are influenced by a recurring dream she has had starring the historic illuminati.


“I have this recurring dream sometimes where there’s a phantom in my home. He takes me into a room, and there’s a blond girl with ropes tied to all four of her limbs. And she’s got my shoes on from the Grammys. Go figure - pyscho. And the ropes are pulling her apart. I never see her get pulled apart, but I just watch her whimper, and then the phantom says to me, ‘If you want me to stop hurting her and if you want your family to be OK, you will cut your wrist.’ And I think that he has his own, like, crazy wrist-cutting device. And he has this honey in, like, Tupperware, and it looks like sweet-and-sour sauce with a lot of MSG from New York. Just bizarre. And he wants me to pour the honey into the wound, and then put cream over it and a gauze. So I looked up the dream, and I couldn’t find anything about it anywhere. And my mother goes, ‘Isn’t that an illuminati ritual?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ I do have morbid dreams. But I put them in the show. A lot of the work I do is an exorcism for the fans but also for myself.”

It's quite a specific dream Lady Gaga had, and it's definitely had influence on stage, where on one occasion at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards she did a blood-spurting performance, and on her tour 'The Monster Ball tour' she was 'attacked' on stage by a performer dressed in black, who gnawed on her throat causing her to bleed heavily before the climatic end dying in a pool of her own blood.

There are quite alot of sources that claim to be able to 'interpret dreams', in much the same way as biblical figures as Joseph and , by looking at symbolism. Looking at Lady Gaga's dream, and using a website that works as a dream dictionary, I can attempt to, by looking at symbolism, interpret the hidden meaning of her dream.

Some of the symbols in her dream: Honey, phantom, blond girl, rope


'Honey: To see honey in your dream, denotes that you need to be less meek and more honest in communicating with others. You need to assert yourself and make sure you are heard.'


'Phantom: To see a phantom in your dream, represents guilt, fear, and/or repressed memories. Your dream is serving as a medium for you to face your fears and thus it is important to pay attention to what message the phantom is trying to convey.' 


'Blonde: To see a blond person in your dream, suggests that you need to enjoy life and live it up. Be a little glamorous.'


'Ropes: To see a rope in your dream, represents your connection and attachment to others. It is symbolic of what is holding your relationship together. Alternatively, a rope signifies bondage, restriction and captivity.'

There are definitely interpretations of the symbols that seem somewhat relevant, she's certainly taken on a somewhat glamourous lifestyle, and asserted herself in the world. But perhaps at the end of the day it is our own interpretations of dreams that are the real message. Certainly Lady Gaga's interpreted her's in strange and wonderful ways.

Insomnia

Insomnia is described in the dictionary as "an inability to obtain sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; with difficulty in falling or staying asleep, and sleeplessness" this is often the case even if you have plenty of opportunities to fall asleep. It differentiates between people, it is reported that at least a third of people in the UK will suffer with insomnia at some point in their lives, whether it lasts a few weeks or a decade, and is one of the most commonly reported sleeping problems in the world.

One well known individual who suffers from insomnia is Adam Young, the founder of the popular band Owl City. He began suffering with insomnia when he was about sixteen, ending up getting three or four hours of sleep a night, a problem that affected his concentration in school. However, his insomnia isn't a completely bad thing, as it's actually helped to inspire and create some of his most well known and loved music "It's become a blessing and a curse; I find that when I can't sleep, those are the times when I tend to be most inspired. So insomnia does allow me to get a lot done - it's definitely a double edged sword." Sometimes sleep can be 'helped' along by the use of sleeping pills, which induce sleep. Most of the stronger stuff has to be prescribed by your Doctor, although there are some less powerful sleeping pills you can buy over the counter at the chemist. The problem with sleeping pills are they're not a cure, they're only masking the real problem, and can lead to bad side effects and a dependency on the drugs.

Routine Dreams and the act of sleeping are so engraved in our natures, in our history, that preparing for sleep and dreaming has become a ritual for all of us. Despite all our questions, all our uncertainties about the purposes of dreams, the function of sleeping, and the very mystery of it, it forms a stable and unchanging part of our daily lives. Perhaps that is the greatest mystery of all when it comes to dreaming, how easily it is accepted despite us knowing next to nothing about it. The only certain thing about it is that we need it to survive. According to the dictionary, routine is 'a course of normative, standardized actions or procedures that are followed regularly, often repetitiously ' and one such routine permanently ingraved in our memories, is preparing for bed. Since from a young age we've had this drilled into us, from a time when our Mothers lovingly changed us into our all-in-one baby suits and told us bed time stories, to us investing in dental floss and brushing expertly infront of our sinks every evening. Experiments I have done a series of photographs documenting my personal routine of preparing for sleep, and for some of them have enhanced them using my photoshop skills:

I think as a set they work well, obviously some more than others. Some are very strong, while a couple are not as visually stimulating. Looking at the second photo down, of the figure brushing her hair, it brings to mind work by Edgar Degas, a french impressionist artist. He did a series of work on women washing, drying themselves and brushing their hair, which is similar to the idea I had there, when I was thinking of preparation for bed.

Using photoshop:

Mostly with photo shop I used image adjustment tools to change the colour balance, and contrast/brightness on certain layers, and then rubbed through the topmost layer.It's brilliant thinking about how six months ago I couldn't even open a file on it, and now I'm bringing out the best in my photos.