Intro to Dream Mapping


The image I sampled for Dream Mapping is from Scarlet Diva, a film directed by erotic film icon Asia Argento. In the image Asia Argento's mother, Daria Nicolodi, also an erotic film icon, is offset against the photograph of yet another erotic film icon, Marlene Dietrich. The image evokes a dreamlike quality; for, yes, cinematic-based eroticism melds into our dreams. Indeed, it has been said that film is the ultimate medium in which to render dreams. It has also been suggested that being inundated with cinematic imagery for over a century now has influenced the very structure of dreaming. Dream Mapping plays off this. It is a deeply textured web animation, composed of 304 frames. A high-speed Internet connection is required and I recommend using Firefox as your browser. Even with a high-speed connection, the animation may initially run at a jagged rate, lasting over 4 minutes, rather than the intended duration of approximately 1 minute and 34 seconds. What I have learned from posting other computer memory intensive animations is that they often need to play through once before running at their proper rate. I realize this is awkward, but I believe there is a positive side effect. For me as an artist working in a new medium, transparency and process are related. Showcasing the process is part of the art. That initial slower run-through of the animation brings the process of its creation into relief.


View Dream Mapping