A short story by Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney.

Conceived 58 years, in 1945, close to 60 years before it was released. It tells a story of a haunting romance between Dahlia, a mortal woman struggling to find love, and Chronos, an all-powerful titan and the personification of time itself. The story is set to a love ballad composed by Fantasia composer Armando Dominguez.

I like the contrast between Dalí and Disney’s reflections on the story:

As Dalí explained to the press at the time, the animation was “a magical exposition of the problem of life in the labyrinth of time”, while Disney attempted to tone down his art-speak, describing it as “just a simple story of a girl in search of her real love.”

Berger examines the impact of photography and reproduction on our appreciation of art. 

Some highlights: 

Manipulation by sound, movement, context

Reproductions have allowed images to come to us, vs us going to them. There is no longer one unique position an image belongs to. They are seen through millions of reproductions, in millions of contexts - e.g. through your screen, surrounded by your own furniture etc. 

Paitings modified by movement and sound 

Meaning is liable to be manipulated and transformed. no longer a constant 

Silence and Stillness

The images in paitings are silent, still 

the lines on your screen, even pages of a book are ever moving, never still. 

But paitings demonstrate silence.

Occasionally, this uninterrupted silence and the stillness of a painting can be very striking. 

Corridoors through time 

The paiting, absolutely still, soundless becomes a corridoor, connecting the moment it represents, with the moment at which you’re looking at it. Something travels through that corridoor at a speed greater than light - throws in thw question of the way of measuring time itself 

Unfolding of time 

In a film sequence, the details are selected and re-arranged into a narrative, which depends on unfolding time. In paitings, there is no unfolding time as all elements are present simultaneously. 

Accessibility of meaning 

While reproductions make paitings accessible, the text (usually by experts) begins to make them inaccessible to our own interpretations. Kids interpret images directly as they are. 

Reproduction as a languge beyond images

Using the means of reproduction as though they offered a language, as though pictures were like words rather than holy relics 

A need for dialogue 

He finishes off saying the images may be like words, but there is no dialogue yet - limiting the possibility of active interperation - he calls out the need for 

‘access to tv to be extended beyond its present narrow limits’ for this to be born (1972) and invites the watcher to stay skeptical of the arranged programme he just presented. 

2024 Memo by Toolhouse; a research lab applying machine intelligence to new production methods.

The prototype is the product.

Principles

1. Physical imagination: materialize ideas to transcend the digital/virtual realm with real world feedback.

2. Creative practicality: balance expression with real-world utility. Make imagination useful.

3. Play and accessibility: give users agency to shape their world by making the production process easily understandable and fun to use.

4. Dynamic personalization: a product is a living entity, capable of continuous improvements and adaptations in response to the user's evolving needs. Make the system capable to respond uniquely to individual preferences and requirements. If you build what you use, you learn to build better.

The prototype is the product. If outcomes are the effect of process, then better outcomes come from better processes. And it starts with how we build our world.

When there’s a framework for updating your built environment to you, the world talks back in a way you can begin to shape directly. This exclusivity based on personalization will evolve the very definition ofluxury. Because luxury has always been about what’s exclusive to you.

If I ever made a yoga website, it would strive to be like this one. 

own your voice

hear nature

Sensory Calm Spaces are dedicated tents for neurodivergent people at festivals and other public events, designed to recalibrate from overstimulation.