Renee Brown 6/15/23

  •  

 

 

 

How precognitive dream directives affect art making outcomes

 

Thesis for MFA

Master of Fine Art ( art research)

Transart Creative Arts Institute &

Liverpool John Moore’s University

Renee Brown, 2023

 

 

1.

Acknowledgement

I would like to firstly acknowledge my advisors. Dr. Michael Bowdidge who introduced the work of JW Dunne, and Dr. Tracy Benson who greatly assisted me in the structure  and design of this thesis.

Thank you to my dear husband who encouraged me and allowed me the many hours of research, and my children and grandchildren who encouraged me with their understanding of my focus,

And o the very kind staff of Transart Creative Art institute and Liverpool John Moore’s University

 

 

 

How precognitive dream directives affect art making outcomes

Abstract

My art praxis stands at an intersection of art and dream analysis.  This paper examines my approach to responding to my dream life aesthetically, as I follow dream directives released and journalized in my dream life.  My practice embodies metaphoric dream analysis methodology derived from Ancient biblical Israel. The methodology of dream analysis has been revived in the teachings of John Paul Jackson in 1980 (Jackson), which has proven personally accurate over the last two decades.

 

2.

 

I examine certain early twentieth-century theories and philosophies pertinent to my praxis that have influenced mainstream art movements and embodied dreams in artmaking. Through my lens of perception, I contextualize my practice within those frameworks,

Reflexively, I break down my art-making methodology and what has occurred this year while writing this paper In the practice process component of this research.  I breakdown my practice of sketching rocks which is personally ritualistic and a portal that releases me to working from  inside out, and into a higher aesthetic realm in my praxis.  In the case study I examine five journalized dreams which occurred while writing this paper. Each selected journalized dream inferred reference and direction toward the art making  process of a selected chosen dream which was highlighted within me, this dream also occurred during this same time period. I conclude in showing dream directives can affect art outcomes when interpreted with metaphoric dream analysis methodology.

 

 

Table of contents

  1. Dreams and spirituality
  2. “Not yet’’, Influences of mainstream art movements 20th century
  3. Embracing and Expanding the Serialist theory
  4. Rock sketching as a portal
  5. Breaking down my methodology

   6.Practice process component

 

Appendix; Vocabulary

Spirituality

Dream

Precognitive dream

Directives

Conceptual metaphors

Mystic

Revelation

Portal

 

Spirituality, the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things: "the shift in priorities allows us to embrace our spirituality more profoundly.

Dream. a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep

Precognitive dream. Reveals understanding about future phenomena that can’t be inferred from

actual available information.

Directives. intending to guide or influence.

Mystic. is one who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender who obtains unity by self-absorption into the absolute and believes in spiritual apprehensions of truth that are beyond the intellect

Revelation. a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way. something relating to human existence or the world.

 

Introduction.

After attending school and studying painting, sculpture, and Medieval and Renaissance art history in Siena Italy, I was greatly influenced and drawn to the work and craftsmanship of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Being born blind in one eye, I was extremely determined to emulate the masters drawing prowess in my own drawings. I received a BFA in painting from RIT cum laude, and I was greatly influenced by a faculty who encouraged me in the direction of both figurative and abstract expressionism. I went on to complete 45 hr. in the MFA painting program at the University of Buffalo where I later received a Schomburg fellowship and completed an MAH in fine art and education. I taught art in public school until the year 2000. In 2000 I survived a near-fatal auto collision and was given a second chance at life along with my husband.  I Sustained a mild closed head injury caused me to discontinue teaching. I had to re-learn math, reading comprehension, and writing which was a struggle. Slowly and gradually, my

5.

cognitive functions were replenished back to my former capabilities. However, It should be added that my post collision state of being has expanded and enhanced my dream life causing me  to lean heavily on dreams for direction which I honor and embody.  I view the world to this day  as very fast-paced, that is insensitive and hastily overlook’s the mysteries of the night season which I passionately embraced. Post collision my memory and reception to the language of the night season flourished. During the post collision years of rehabilitation I was mostly bed-ridden. I absorbed 21 hr, dream interpretation classes while laying on a recliner. I submerged myself amongst a group of sensitive and kind prophetic people led by a world-renowned prophet, John Paul Jackson. He developed courses and taught parabolic metaphoric dream analysis. I was greatly inspired and embodied the teachings and his precepts of dream analysis methodology which is rooted in ancient Hebrew pictograms.  This period was very rich spiritually for me as I mastered the mechanics of parabolic metaphoric dream analysis and interpreted well over 1000 dreams with accuracy.  I then began interpreting the dreams of people online and around the world in hiddenness which have proven accurate.

In 2010, while healing, I began to inform my art practice with the language of the night season. In a precognitive dream, I was given a directive which I journalized. That I would meet a man of great influence in the art world and would create a book.. This consideration had never entered my mind. After exhibiting at Art Expo New York City in 2011, Tim Hill (renowned publisher for Ansel Adams) emailed me and asked me to collaborate and create a book of paintings of my dreams. I followed the precognitive dream directive from the prior year that foretold of this event, and I agreed to create a book of my dreams. We worked together for 4 years to create the

 

6.

book titled ‘Dreamscapes’, where I selected and aesthetically responded to 40 of my journalized dreams dating from 2011-2012, which was published in 2014.

  I began  to follow and trust in my dream life and their directives as an essential inner support. For the last 20 years to the present, I have embodied, embraced, received, and recorded this inner space. I have journalized every dream I have had since 1998.  As I reflexively review my dream journals, they reveal past, present, and future phenomena. This paper will elucidate two parts of my art praxis. The practice of rock sketching and the effect of the directives received in my dreams.

 

 

1.Spirituality and dreams

Of course, understandably some might object to seeing through my lens regarding spirituality and dream interpretation, however I see what I see the way in which I am wired to see. I invite you to follow me on my journey and consider my course.

I see dreams as a space in a spiritual dimension that reveals thoughts, visions, insights, feelings, and knowing’s oftentimes from a higher realm of logic that occurs during sleep. Spirituality is a space within one’s inner sanctum where one is spiritually absorbed and concerned about the things of the spirit as opposed to materiality.

Many traditional art forms around the world are an expression of the spiritual dimension, of a culture’s cosmology, and the spiritual experiences of individuals. Religious art and iconography

7.

often reveal the hidden aspects of spirit as glimpsed through the filter of cultural significance (Laughlin, 2004). One of the earliest occurrences of dream interpretation goes back to ancient Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations, earlier than the third millennium BC. It is difficult to say just which mention of dream interpretation is the oldest, but ancient Samaria seems to hold precedence. The dreams of Gilgamesh (c. 27OO-26OO B.C.), king of the Sumerian city of Uruk, are recorded in the epic that bears his name (Hughes, 2000).

Dream interpretation was regarded by ancient people in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome as an art requiring intelligence and sometimes, divine inspiration. It became a motif in literature, it was treated as a science by philosophers and physicians. Dreams were thought to come either as clear messages, or as symbols requiring interpretation, In the method called incubation, the dreamer could sleep in a sacred place in expectation of a dream that would elucidate a problem for which the dreamer desired guidance. civilizations the Greeks channeled dreams to receive revelations through “incubation” (dream incubation is simply focusing attention on a specific issue when going to sleep (Barrett, 1993).

Dream interpretation was an honored profession with exponents such as Artemi Dorus of Daldis. Ancient dream traditions, and beliefs can provide perspective for consideration of more recent theories of dream interpretation (Hughes, 2000).

Most ancient writings and until the Middle age-associated dreams with the visitation of an external force that required the dreamers to action or warned them of a future event. This was called oneirology, the study of dreams and the art of dream interpretation. Like many ancient In Judaism, dreams are considered as the voice of God, and part of the experience of the world that

8.

can be interpreted and from which lessons can be collected. Ancient Hebrews discerned the difference between good dreams being from God and bad dreams from darkness.

Biblical Israel is the period from which I attain the dream analysis methodology used in my art praxis. It has long been evident in the study of post biblical Judaism that prophecy had become a dormant institution. For scholars studying Judaism in its many ancient manifestations, prophecy was a phenomenon closely related to the heritage of biblical Israel. It disappeared as biblical Israel gave way to Judaism in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile(Jassen, 2008).

Many Old Testament stories included divine revelations through dreams such as Jacob’s ladder, Ezekiel’s revelatory visions, and Daniel’s dream of Kingdoms that for see in the book of Revelation. Although after the Enlightenment during the turn of the twentieth century, this dimension of spirituality in dreams was publicly discarded as Charlatanism or witchcraft, in private spheres dream glossaries continued to be used (Chappelle, 2022).

 I reflexively explore and research the elements of the dream using parabolic metaphoric dream analysis used by the prophet Daniel of Biblical Israel. This methodology will be further explored in the case study at the end of this paper.  Like ancient biblical prophetic parabolic dream analysis, my art praxis can be traced back to ancient Hebrew Pictograms.  The prophets of biblical Israel received revelations of past, present, and future phenomena in dreams. My ability  to function like thi  augmented post collision 2005. This methodology has been operating in prophetic circles in western cultures and Europe since the eighties (Jackson, 2006).  Today in scientific circles a new wave of anthropological research is expanding knowledge of how dreams reflect and actively respond

                                                                              9.

to cultural, social, political, and religious influences in people’s lives psyche and culture(Kracke, 1993).

 

2.The way men see  1900-2000 BC

As I explore our current culture's perspective of dreams in art, I find it necessary to go back and review varied mainstream concepts, theories, and philosophies which influenced the thinking of twentieth-century artists who embodied multidimensionality in their art-making. I will examine t influences from the turn of the century to the present. Why, I was told in a dream from 1998 that I would, and I am following that precognitive dream directive by clearing up how various  various influences have been woven into the Western culture's fabric and way of seeing dreams. Which has dulled and swayed the twentieth-century mainstream dream art culture from embodying the prophetic eye of ancient biblical Hebrew culture.

 I point out and comparatively contextualize my vantage point by sharing my point of departure. I will use personal journalized dream excerpts throughout this paper. I i point out  connections and disconnects in the reception and interpretation of dreams and multidimensionality in art practices in relation to my methodology.

I begin with a precognitive directive dream that released timing. I received and journalized a dream in 2010 which I have followed causing me to wait for the right time to release my insight on  in my art praxis.  In the dream I was pregnant, wanting to give birth. I went to a car where my childhood pediatrician, Dr. Waymen C McCoy sat in the driver’s seat. He was looking out the window. I asked him if I could give birth. He spoke. ‘Not yet’ 2010. I interpret this as it not

10.

being the time to reveal this new work which is symbolic of the baby, which I desired to deliver. Because of the way men see, which is a word play on Dr. Waymen C McCoy. The word play on the Dr’s name cautions and directs me that it is not time because of the lense of our culture.  Like Hilma of Klimt my art praxis would not have been received in 2010 because of racism in western culture,

Not Yet, acrylic 18x24’’. 2010  Renee Brown

Dreams were omnipresent in twentieth-century painting for the most part, however, they lost their religious and prophetic function during the turn of the century (Bergez, 2018). Psychoanalytic dreams were no longer turned toward the future, but to the past of the dreaming subject (Bergez, 2018).

 

11.

 The 20th century was one of particular worldwide upheavals, ranging from wars to economic downturns to radical political movements. The years between 1900 and 2000 were years of extreme change and a shift for artists worldwide. These changes were reflected in the works of avant-garde artists throughout the century. My research is inclusive of philosophers. theorist, artist, and art movements that embodied multidimensionality in their art practice. I have chosen to highlight serialism, artists influenced by theosophy, western dream analysis. Also, modernism, the surrealist movement, Charles Burchfield and a contemporary dream artist. I was introduced to the serialist theory of Dunne 1914 by an advisor and saw that my art practice was an artistic extension of Dunne’s serialist theory. Over the course of the last twenty years, I have personally received and journalized precognitive dreams LIKE JW Dunne which have proven accurate in time. Dunne believed that he experienced precognitive dreams unintentionally received as if they were not in sync with time on earth which is how they occur with me.  The first Dunne records occurred in 1898, in which he dreamed of the time on his watch before waking up and checking it. Twenty such experiences, some quite dramatic, led him to undertake a scientific investigation into the phenomenon, and from this, he developed a new theory of consciousness and time. Through years of experimentation with precognitive dreams and hypnagogic states, Dunne posited that our experience of time as linear was an illusion brought about by human consciousness. Dunne argued that past, present, and future were simultaneous and only experienced sequentially because of our mental perception of them. He believed that in the dream state, the mind was not shackled in this way and was able to perceive events in the past and future with equal facility  (Nagel & Dunne, 1927). While I agree with Dunne’s serialist theory which affirms linearity in time and a fourth dimension or the space in which we receive dreams in precognitive dreams, I cannot accept his overall conclusion in infinite regress because I have not experienced it in my reality.  Dunne’s serialist theory was popular and then declined Simultaneously mainstream artists embraced theosophy which will be explained later in this chapter,

12.

during this time the serialist theory was going in another direction review I believe serialism  should be revisited and it will  add new knowledge  in the area of dream analysis.  I will now look at theosophy a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century.  Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky.  Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism, and Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Many important figures, in particular within the humanities and the arts, were involved in the Theosophical movement and influenced by its teachings. Prominent scientists who belonged to the Theosophical Society included the inventor Thomas Edison, the biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, and the chemist William Crookes.  Theosophy was also an influence over several early pioneers of abstract art. Hilma af Klimt’s development of abstraction was directly tied to her work with the Theosophical Society, to present and preserve spiritual concepts visually. The Russian expressionist and pioneering abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky was also very interested in Theosophy. The Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian was also influenced by Theosophical symbolism (Campbell, 1980).

While I understand the impulse of great minds of the time wanting to embrace a new view of spirituality. I see theosophy as dulling the ability to receive, embody and further delve in and research Dunne’s  precognitive dream work, which would have widened their scope of dream analysis.

 Current research today investigates the sensory presence of gods and spirits is central to many of the religions that have shaped human history. But these experiences are poorly understood by social scientists and rarely studied empirically Hearing the voice of God, feeling the presence of the dead, being possessed by a demonic spirit—such events are among the most remarkable human sensory experiences.

13

We argue that experiences of spiritual presence are facilitated by cultural

models that represent the mind as “porous,” or permeable to the world, and by an immersive orientation toward inner life that allows a person to become “absorbed” in experiences. Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths (Luhrmann et al., 2021) There is much truth in this view however my personal experience and art praxis methodology overrides the generality of this perspective and theosophy.

I now will look at W Kandinsky, who was inspired by theosophy during the early turn of the century and went on to highlight multidimensionality in art making in his book the spiritual in Art” he referred to this fourth dimension or spiritual space as ‘’inner necessities”.  Kandinsky said ‘’The true work of art is born from the ‘artist’, a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, it becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being.” Fascinated by Christian eschatology and the perception of a coming New Age, (Rabinovich, 1994). Yakov. "Kandinsky: Master of the Mystic Arts" a common theme among Kandinsky's first seven Compositions is the apocalypse (the end of the world as we know it). Writing of the "artist as prophet" in his book, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky created paintings in the years immediately preceding World War I am showing a coming cataclysm which would alter individual and social reality. Having a devout belief in Orthodox Christianity, (Simon, 2010). Kandinsky delving into deeper dimensionality guided and opened up the art realm to greater access to spirituality in art. Hilma Af Klimt knew she was on to something as she embodied the spiritual in art and perceived her spiritual work would not be accepted at that time.   Hilma af Klimt was a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings are considered among the first abstract works known in Western art history(Cain, 2017). Hilma was no layman, she was a trained and talented artist who knew about color and composition.” She

14.

adds: “Creativity is bigger than art history. Hilma is like Leonardo – she wanted to understand who we are as human beings in the cosmos.” For Müller-Westermann,  is as important to Sweden as Münch to Norway (Kellaway, 2016). Fortunately, Af Klint was grounded. She was a conduit first, then an interpreter. She became a scholar of her work, producing a beautiful and botanically precise symbolic lexicon. It cannot be easily telescoped, but these symbols dominate spirals (evolution), U (the spiritual world), W (matter), and overlapping discs (unity). Yellow and roses (pleasingly) stood for masculinity. Blue and lilacs meant femininity. She may have been influenced by Goethe’s Theory of Colors (1810). Yellow was “next to the night”. Blue was “next to darkness”. Green was perfect harmony. She explored dualities – including male and female sexuality – but unity was always her goal (ironically for a female artist working alone. (Bernitz, 2016). While I agree with Klimnts  entry into a deeper spirituality,  Klimt doesn’t embody the precepts of her initial biblical foundation as she investigates multidimensionality. Here again the prophetic eye that Dunne provided in serialism is diminished. She was most definitely wired to embrace the prophetic that had not yet  reemerged  in western culture. So contextually speaking during the early turn of the century my art praxis as Hilma of Klimt’s would not be regarded

because of sexism, and racism.  As I look at western dream analysis I will highlight the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud, the most cited psychologist of the 20th century, published The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900. This book represented a significant milestone in the field of dream interpretation. According to Freud, dreams represent a form of wish fulfillment and hold the key to a person’s desires. Freud believed the function of dreams is to preserve sleep by representing as fulfilled wishes that would otherwise awaken the dreamer. In Freud's theory dreams are instigated by the daily occurrences and thoughts of everyday life. In what Freud called the "dream-work", these "secondary process" thoughts ("word presentations"), governed by the rules of language and the reality principle, become subject to the "primary process" of unconscious thought ("thing presentations") governed by the pleasure

15.

principle, wish gratification and the repressed sexual scenarios of childhood. Because of the disturbing nature of the latter and other repressed thoughts and desires which may have become linked to them, the dream-work operates a censorship function, disguising by distortion, displacement, and condensation the repressed thoughts to preserve sleep (Rycroft, 1995).  That being said I have concerns accepting this theory, because my work and experience in receiving precognitive dreams which release the future phenomena as explained in Dunne’s serialist theory does not concur with the Freuds western dream analysis.

I say this according to my experience  of 20 years of diarized dreams. My dreams  come from a higher dimension and intellect that often give me incite into past, present and future phenomena when interpreted accurately with metaphoric parabolic dream analysis methodology. I now will examine art movements the  artist  embodied multidimensionality.  Modernism in the fine arts was a philosophical, religious and art movement that fostered a time of experimentation in the arts from late  19th century  to mid twentieth century especially following world war one The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, and social organization which reflected the newly emerging industrial world (Skeele, 2000). Modernism is part of the historical process by which the arts have dissociated themselves from nineteenth-century assumptions, which had come in the course of time to seem like dead conventions (Faulkner, 2013). Peter (1990).  Surrealism, which originated in the early 1920s came to be regarded by the public as the most extreme form of modernism or the avant-garde of modernism or high modernism surrealism. Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or surrealistic(The 20th-Century Art Book, 2001). Looking at a single artist that

16.

honed and embodied his dream life thru diarizing as I do in his art making, I turn to Charles Burchfield Throughout his career Burchfield recorded more than a hundred dreams in his journals. He also created thousands of doodles which he called “a form of subconscious thinking in visual terms.” He went on to say that some of his most useful abstract motifs came from the practice (Burchfield, 2018.) I like Burchfield use sketches of rocks that overflow into my art practice,

In examining contemporary artist that embody the nocturnal season. I will point to the work of Gregory Chatonsky is a French artist who has been working a lot on the connection between dreams and artificial intelligence. For a piece titled, “Dream Bag” he designed an artificial intelligence program and taught it to generate dreams from a database of 20,000 dreams collected at the University of California these stories are then read and generate associated images produced by an artificial neural network. This piece is an incredible attempt to materialize an intangible neurological process that goes on within our brains. (pod cast) My approach in understanding the language of the night season  is different because of the lens of dreams our culture sees through (Chappelle, 2022).I see many of these mainstream influences, other than serialism dulling the cultural lens of an ability to see precognitive dreams and directives.

3.Expanding Serialist theory

I believe my art praxis methodology will forge a new path If the artist is open to receiving, researching and responding to their dream life.

The following sections will explain Dunne’s serialist theory and how my art praxis embodies the precepts of serialism and expands upon it.

 

17.

  1. W. Dunne’s book An Experiment with Time proposes a theory of time, which he calls “Serialism” account’s for his observations. Although it was his precognitive experiences that motivated Dunne to rethink the nature of time, he maintains that his theory is not dependent on empirical evidence of that nature but rather follows directly from certain commonsense propositions about the nature of time which are universally accepted by non philosophers everywhere(“Dunne’s Theory of Infinite Temporal Dimensions,” 2013)

Dunne proposed that our experience of time as linear is an illusion brought about by human consciousness. He argued that past, present and future were continuous in a higher-dimensional reality and we only experience them sequentially because of our mental perception of them. He went further, proposing an infinite regress of higher time dimensions inhabited by the conscious observer that at this time I have not experienced and can’t comment on. Dunne theory offered a scientific explanation for ideas of consciousness being explored widely at the time. It became well known and was discussed by philosophers such as J. A. Gunn, C. D. Broad and M. F. Cleugh, and by the parapsychologist G. N. M. Tyrrell.  While some accepted his dream observations and the general thrust of his arguments, the majority rejected his infinite regress as logically flawed.(Nagel & Dunne, 1927).

  1. How I expand serialism.

My art praxis is very much in dialogue with Dunne. I believe reality can be looked at as linear time and the fourth dimension is where many of our dreams come from thus allowing us to receive dreams of future phenomena. Which is evident in many of my paintings. (Brown, 2014)

 

18.

My art practice expands serialism in that it is inclusive of interpretation rooted in ancient Hebrew pictograms.

 

4.Rock sketching as a portal

This section explain origins of rocks and how rocks inform my art praxis process

Humanity has made use of rocks since the earliest humans. This early period, called the Stone Age, saw the development of many stone tools. Rocks and stones have always held a deep spiritual significance for humans. In many cultures, rocks and stones are viewed as symbols of strength, protection, and stability. They are believed to possess healing power By: Author The Editors of Give Me History (The Symbolism of Rocks and Stones (Top 7 Meanings) - Give Me History Postedon April 25, 2023)

To remain authentic in this report, I was drawn to use rocks. I remember seeing in 2010 in a dream  a vision of 2 rocks lying in varying positions. I have used that rock dream in practice sketching, Using it as my point of departure in releasing my hand to flow into multidimensionality. This practice was nothing more than a byproduct of my practice until it was  recommended by advisors to archive two decades worth in sketch books.,

Rock sketching is a very special space in my practice. I honor this iteration of sketching rocks. As I begin this process, I choose various rocks. I gravitate toward a triangular shape.

I touch and feel the rocks and set them in a way that is indicative of my dream of 2010. Sometimes moving them but always attempting to set them as seen in the dream.

 

19.

My drawings can sometimes start stiff. I'll move the rocks and continue to repeat the sketch. When the lines become loose and spontaneous, I begin to see. The seeing causes my perspective of the drawing of the rocks to shift to multidimensionality.

Sometimes I begin to see the lines overlapping and creating form and figure-ground relationships that

appear otherworldy.

When not practicing rock sketching daily, I have to go back to it, to receive a sense of being grounded. I iterate this process multiple times until there is fluidity and connection to my inner spirit is released through my finger onto the surface,. It is my first step before going to the next phase of materiality inclusive of chalk, paint, sculpture, or filming, The energy or spirit connection comes thru my inner sanctum through my eyes onto the surfaces leaves a peace.

 Iam often able to see forms, rhythms,and invisible lines that flow. Later in the project process component Rock Talk video, I will express what goes on while sketching and how I see and flow  into another dimension thru the practice of rock sketching. An example of this process revealing future phenomena is in the Sandy hook series. I unknowingly created these images a week before the tragedy. The marks reflected the upcoming Sandy hook event, they were predictive in nature,

20.

using gestural strokes.  Unknowing the marks recorded sequential bullet points of the series of events that would unfold. I titled them accordingly.

 

Some of the key qualities of my rocks I am drawn to when collecting them for sketching is that they are somewhat triangular shapes as in the dream I received in 2011. I begin sketch these rock shapes by looking closely at their form. I then sketch subconsciously and my lines take on a life of there own on the paper.

 I visually center on the edges of rocks. They become  a portal of knowledge- when positioned a certain way, they give me entry to another dimension to over there. As I overlap the rock sketches, I feel depth that allows me to discover a deeper realm

 

21.

 I prefer the viewer to develop a sensitivity seeing within the lines and traveling thru the sketch.  The rocks unfold into layers of reality sometimes of dream elements when the rock lines flow loosely, they become a breath life, spirit I have never used rock sketches to mean something or to be symbolic of a thing.

My rock sketching is not symbolic of the form. It is my intention for their meaning to be  open-ended.

Rock sketching centers me as I move ahead into art making. I oftentimes ritualistically repeat this process hundreds of times as a form of cleansing before approaching a clear tabula rasa  in making art.

Breaking down my methodology

Here is an example of my art methodology. It will point out and give meaning to precognitive dream directives that affect my art making.

While painting a dream inspired by a dream titled Flourish (golden balloons were floating into the sky in the dream. While painting flourish I struggled with creating the atmospheric effect. I

a dream I saw the strokes to use on the Flourish painting. I applied the strokes and I achieved the affect I desired. I call this a precognitive dream directive.

The direction was given in the dream revealing the strokes which I followed. The affect was the desired outcome in atmosphere.

There are various ways I enter into artmaking. The following dream analysis metaphoric methodology is the method I use in my art praxis.

Dream interpretation basics

  1. Record it as soon as possible

 Date

 Time

 Possibly draw a diagram

  1. How are you participating in the dream?

 Observer

 Participant

 Observer/participant

 Main focus

  1. Find the focus – who or what is the dream about?

 Write down the main facts

 What object or thought occurs most often and what remains with you when the dream

ends?

 Observe the sequence of things

 What questions linger about the dream?

  1. Title your dream

After I apply the above after journaling my dream. In stillness , and peace I often receive a revelation regarding the interpretation. Another way is to look at the dream metaphorically and walk into and through the dream which takes much experience and practice. Dream interpretation can’t be mechanically or scientifically figured out using dream dictionaries. Often during the dream I receive the interpretation of  the dream.

Conclusion

In this paper, I begin to break down how precognitive dream directives affect art outcomes and give examples. I have received precognitive dreams and followed their directives which I have found to be accurate over time for well over 2 decades. In the practice process component of this paper, I share an example of my practice methodology in the process as I wrote this paper this year. In the case study, I respond aesthetically and interpret five journalized precognitive dreams with directives. This paper examines early turn of the twentieth century philosophical and theoretical influences that I see as dulling an artisan’s ability to receive precognitive dreams and directives. My art practice is an extension of JW Dunne’s 1914 serialist theory, and my methodology expands the serialist concept with parabolic metaphoric dream analysis which is broken down. I hope that opening a conversation about precognitive dream directives will fill a knowledge gap in the cross section of dream analysis and fine arts.

Renee Brown  6/15/23

 

 

Bibliography

Barrett, D. (1993). The “committee of sleep”: A study of dream incubation for problem solving. Dreaming, 3(2), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0094375

Bernitz, A. M. (2016). A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1900-1925. In A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1900-1925. Brill. https://brill.com/display/title/27428

Bergez, D. (2018). Painting the Dream: A History of Dreams in Art, from the Renaissance to Surrealism (Illustrated edition). Abbeville Press.

Burchfield. 2018. Suddenly I Awoke: The Dream Journals of Charles E. Burchfield—Burchfield Penney Art Center. Retrieved June 11, 2023, from https://burchfieldpenney.org/exhibitions/exhibition:04-13-2018-07-29-2018-suddenly-i-awoke-the-dream-journals-of-charles-e-burchfield/

Cain, A. (2017, March 31). What Was the First Abstract Painting? Artsy. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-first-abstract-artwork

Campbell, B. F. (1980). Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement (First Edition first Printing). University of California Press.

Chappelle, ‎The Art of Social Change: Episode 19 - Oneironauts Special Edition on Apple Podcasts. (2022). Apple Podcasts. Retrieved June 11, 2023, from https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-19-oneironauts-special-edition/id1502031582?i=1000543628360

Chappelle, ‎The Art of Social Change: Episode 19 - Oneironauts Special Edition on Apple Podcasts. (2022). Apple Podcasts. Retrieved June 11, 2023, from https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-19-oneironauts-special-edition/id1502031582?i=1000543628360

Dunne’s theory of infinite temporal dimensions. (2013, May 21). Boisterous Beholding. https://wmjas.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/dunnes-theory-of-infinite-temporal-dimensions/

Faulkner, P. (2013). Modernism (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203768945

Hughes, J. D. (2000). Dream Interpretation in Ancient Civilizations. Dreaming, 10(1), 7–18. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009447606158

Jassen, A. P. (2008). Prophets and Prophecy in the Qumran Community1. AJS Review, 32(2), 299–334. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0364009408000147

Jackson, J. P. (2006). The Biblical Model of Dream Interpretation: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Soulish Methodology. Streams Ministries International.

Kellaway, K. (2016, February 21). Hilma afKlint: A painter possessed. The Observer. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/21/hilma-af-klint-occult-spiritualism-abstract-serpentine-gallery

Kracke, W. H. (1993). Cultural Aspects of Dreaming. The Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams, 151–155.

Laughlin, C. D. (2004). Art and Spirit: The Artistic Brain, the Navajo Concept of Hozho, and Kandinsky’s “Inner Necessity.” International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 23(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2004.23.1.1

Luhrmann, T. M., Weisman, K., Aulino, F., Brahinsky, J. D., Dulin, J. C., Dzokoto, V. A., Legare, C. H., Lifshitz, M., Ng, E., Ross-Zehnder, N., & Smith, R. E. (2021). Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(5), e2016649118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016649118

Nagel, E., & Dunne, J. W. (1927). An Experiment with Time. The Journal of Philosophy, 24(25), 690. https://doi.org/10.2307/2013955

Rabinovich, Y. ‘Kandinsky: Master of the Mystic Arts, 1994. InvisibleBooks.com: Kenneth C. Lindsay and Peter Vergo, ‘Kandinsky: Complete Writings on Art’ (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1994) Page 400

Rycroft, C. (1995). A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, Second Edition (2nd edition). Penguin Group USA.

Simon, J. (2010). Bauhaus Group: The Bauhaus Group: Six Masters of Modernism. Biography, 33(2), 464–465.

Skeele, D. (2000). Pericles: Critical Essays. Psychology Press.

The 20th-century art book (Reprinted). (2001). Phaidon.