Dream Images and Creation.
Céline Masson, Silke Schauder, Simone Korff Sausse
The Psychoanalytic Review February 2017 DOI: 10.1521/prev.2017.104.1.111 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Bion's psychoanalytic theory of dreams illuminates Bill Viola's video art, and that Viola's The Passing (1991) exemplifies an aesthetic and philosophical meditation on the relationship between life and death, with creativity and artistic inspiration rooted in oneiric and infantile experience. |
Abstract
This article links contemporary psychoanalytic theories of the dream, especially Bion's, with the work of the American video artist Bill Viola, who is deeply influenced by altered states of consciousness and produces images of dreamlike quality. We discuss the oneiric and infantile roots of creativity and artistic inspiration, finally taking Viola's monumental artwork The Passing (1991) as paradigmatic of the artist's aesthetic and philosophical elaboration of the relationship between life and death.