DREAMISM

I came across the term Dreamism the other day. I had never heard of it, which quite intrigued me. It is a movement like any other, but for the first time it is applied to the present. Usually a movement happens and it is given a name once it is finished. Dreamism is happening now. It consists of various elements from other movements as well as its own elements.

The expression of dream elements and of the unconscious along with the surprise factor, are very specific to Surrealism and also form a big part of Dreamism. Post-modernism contributes with its hyper reality to the birth of this movement and Romanticism adds to the base of Dreamism the fight against scientific rationalization of nature.

Dreamism main political belief is that dreamists can achieve anything they want even if the rest of us do not believe their capability. Once Dreamism becomes acknowledge by people it will be proving itself. Crazy, no?

I PROPOSE A GAME

All you have to do is go to sleep with a notepad and a pen right next to your bed. When you wake up the next morning, grab the notepad and start writing straight away. Very quickly memories of your dreams will come, and you will see, you can remember much more than what you expected. Come back to it a few days later and read it. It is quite fun.

“I know it is a cave, but it is also at the same time a house. There are loads of us, we are running, hiding. Me and someone else stay behind locking the side door. We hear someone coming, it is a woman, she tries to break in but we are holding the door. The door has windows, I am hiding my face, but the girl next to me is not, and the woman threatens her. The girl starts crying and I say: ‘Don’t worry, if you are well prepared is not that bad’.
We all leave the cave house; there are about 30 of us. The tide is coming up, and the ships in the port are all sinking, we have to swim to get to the other side of the sea, and suddenly I am in a hotel, all warm inside a comfy bed. I step out to the back where the swimming pool is, to admire it. It is an amazing swimming pool build of old stone, and there are dolphins. I get closer and look inside; I see a baby whale stuck to the wall, I want to help the baby whale, but it’s too cold. I look down where the sea is and I can see it is packed with whales. There is a man next to me, and I know he is a dangerous man, I know he is the partner of the woman in the cave house, but this time he doesn’t know I am the one he is after. My phone rings, it’s my dad, he says he will take me to school tomorrow, but he wants to talk to the man next to me. I pass the phone.”

ENGLAND V PORTUGAL

Yesterday I had a call from Rosie, as she came back from Newcastle. She was shocked of how no one spoke or smiled at her during the train journey and she said to me: “People in England are so anti social, why did you come here?”

I have been thinking about that question, and I got to the conclusion that is not the important question, I came to study. The important question is: why do I want to stay? And you see, I’m still trying to find out the answer. What I can tell you is, being in England or being in Portugal is all part of my life but they are two parallel worlds. They are not integrated with each other. I am someone in Portugal and someone else in England, that does not mean I am better in one place than the other, and especially it does not mean I prefer who I am in England just because it is where I want to stay. It just happens.
Of course, that having a better career opportunity influences the fact that I want to stay, but I know there is more to it, and I will keep you posted when I find out the answer.

CHISWICK HOUSE

Danielle, Mark and I went to visit Chiswick house yesterday. I was considerably disappointed as most of the garden and house were closed. We did not see much, and the house is going to be for repair until April, which is not very helpful for our project. We will need a lot of time in the space to be able to create good work. The only reason we have to stick with Chiswick House is due to the funds Mark has applied for. As we have not had an answer about this funding I propose we also look at other places to do our project. I had a quick look into the national trust website and found some nice places, such as Osterley Park and House in Isleworth, Morden Hall Park near Wimbledon, and the Red House, which is a little bit more far way (Bexleyheath), but lovely. Please have a look.

RECREATING OLD COMMUNITIES

The idea of community has become vast due to globalisation. But how was it in the past? How was it in a village?

I have been visiting many National Trust properties lately, and there is a specific one in Cornwall that requires a journey to the past. A festival could be developed for that property by recreating the old community of the village and combine it with theatre, music and art

Recreating the village would involve a massive production on costume and props. The investigation of the old community would also be crucial to create the story. There would be a necessity for a very large cast and artists’ crew. The idea is to have around 6 plays, or 6 plots running in a promenade style that have a story connection, which would lead to a big finale by sharing the last scene together.

During these performances musicians and street artists would be around the village playing music or doing portraits of audience members, the same way it used to be done at the time we are recreating. There could also be a street art craft fair, selling all kinds of things of that era.
I imagine this project to have a length of approximately 4 days, having camping fields were the audience could stay at night.

Anyone interested in the Cornwall Festival?