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| Dreams: Can a drawing help unravel their secrets? | Dreams: Can a drawing help unravel their secrets? |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Neil Prior's recurring dream is given shape by Dr Julia Lockheart | Neil Prior's recurring dream is given shape by Dr Julia Lockheart |
| For as long as I can remember - at least once a week - I have experienced a recurring dream. | For as long as I can remember - at least once a week - I have experienced a recurring dream. |
| Not exactly a nightmare, but nevertheless something which has confused and troubled me. | Not exactly a nightmare, but nevertheless something which has confused and troubled me. |
| I'm something of a counselling cynic, but when I heard about a sleep scientist and artist who had teamed up to try and interpret and explain our dreams, I was intrigued to see if they could get to the bottom of my concerns. | I'm something of a counselling cynic, but when I heard about a sleep scientist and artist who had teamed up to try and interpret and explain our dreams, I was intrigued to see if they could get to the bottom of my concerns. |
| Prof Mark Blagrove interviews people about their dreams, and Dr Julia Lockheart, a renowned artist from Swansea Art College, sketches their discussions to provide greater insight into their meaning. | |
| I am now 44, but in my dream I am 14 or 15 and transported back to my boarding school for blind and visually impaired students in Worcester. | I am now 44, but in my dream I am 14 or 15 and transported back to my boarding school for blind and visually impaired students in Worcester. |
| As it is 30 years hence, I am utterly confused as to what lessons I should be attending and where my files and textbooks are. | As it is 30 years hence, I am utterly confused as to what lessons I should be attending and where my files and textbooks are. |
| Nevertheless I possess a superpower: I know everything that will happen in the next 30 years. | Nevertheless I possess a superpower: I know everything that will happen in the next 30 years. |
| To laughter, I try to explain to my classmates that by 2023 their mobile phones will be several times more powerful than our entire school network. | To laughter, I try to explain to my classmates that by 2023 their mobile phones will be several times more powerful than our entire school network. |
| I know who will win that year's FA Cup final, who will win the general election and which horse will succeed in the Grand National. | I know who will win that year's FA Cup final, who will win the general election and which horse will succeed in the Grand National. |
| I am desperately trying to put bets on with a bookie or call my partner Sarah, who I did not meet until 2013. | I am desperately trying to put bets on with a bookie or call my partner Sarah, who I did not meet until 2013. |
| However, everything on which I try to make a phone call is anything but a mobile - a pocket calculator, a TV remote control… nothing can connect me to the present day. | However, everything on which I try to make a phone call is anything but a mobile - a pocket calculator, a TV remote control… nothing can connect me to the present day. |
| Prof Mark Blagrove interprets Neil's dream while Dr Julia Lockheart draws it | Prof Mark Blagrove interprets Neil's dream while Dr Julia Lockheart draws it |
| As Prof Blagrove explains I have fears about getting my ideas across to other people - something of a problem for a BBC feature writer - Dr Lockheart creates an uncanny visual representation. She had no previous knowledge of the school where I grew up. | |
| Her pictures are drawn on pages of Freud's book The Interpretation of Dreams. | Her pictures are drawn on pages of Freud's book The Interpretation of Dreams. |
| She explained: "The text has many linked words which are like the surrealist idea of object trouvé, or found objects, which I make into found poetry. An example of this is in the pointing finger in your hand which is dialling numbers on the TV remote, held tightly in your other hand. | She explained: "The text has many linked words which are like the surrealist idea of object trouvé, or found objects, which I make into found poetry. An example of this is in the pointing finger in your hand which is dialling numbers on the TV remote, held tightly in your other hand. |
| "The sentence 'I was working principally on my own' is highlighted. It runs down the pointing digit which is punching the numbers in to make an impossible phone call. | "The sentence 'I was working principally on my own' is highlighted. It runs down the pointing digit which is punching the numbers in to make an impossible phone call. |
| "We have been given permission from the publishers of Freud for me to paint on to his writing and tear it out of the book to create a piece of psychological art." | |
| Prof Blagrove said this was where art becomes science. | Prof Blagrove said this was where art becomes science. |
| "Julia's paintings bring our dreams to life. | "Julia's paintings bring our dreams to life. |
| New College, Worcester, where Neil went to school | New College, Worcester, where Neil went to school |
| "We know through our empirical research that people who share their dreams have more empathy with each other, and seeing a visual interpretation only facilitates that process." | "We know through our empirical research that people who share their dreams have more empathy with each other, and seeing a visual interpretation only facilitates that process." |
| He added while there were many schools of thought about the nature and purpose of dreams, theirs was the only scientifically-proven research. | He added while there were many schools of thought about the nature and purpose of dreams, theirs was the only scientifically-proven research. |
| "There is a big body of consensus that dreaming has a biological function in terms of sorting and analysing thoughts from short-term to long-term memory. | "There is a big body of consensus that dreaming has a biological function in terms of sorting and analysing thoughts from short-term to long-term memory. |
| "I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it's an unproven theory. | "I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it's an unproven theory. |
| "What we can categorically say - through controlled experiments - is that people who share their dreams and have seen Julia's imagining of them have greater empathy for each other than people who have met for the first time." | |
| Prof Blagrove and Dr Lockheart are starting an international tour to promote their dream analysis work | Prof Blagrove and Dr Lockheart are starting an international tour to promote their dream analysis work |
| Prof Blagrove argues that this sort of discussion of our dreams leads to better social cohesion. | Prof Blagrove argues that this sort of discussion of our dreams leads to better social cohesion. |
| Dr Lockheart concurred, saying sharing dreams through art was as old as life itself. | Dr Lockheart concurred, saying sharing dreams through art was as old as life itself. |
| Life in a blind boarding school | Life in a blind boarding school |
| Can't sleep or having mad dreams? This may be why | Can't sleep or having mad dreams? This may be why |
| "From prehistoric cave art to Native Americans, there has been a Shamanistic connection with people sharing their dreams." | "From prehistoric cave art to Native Americans, there has been a Shamanistic connection with people sharing their dreams." |
| Many of the dreams shared by NHS professionals during the pandemic followed my pattern. | Many of the dreams shared by NHS professionals during the pandemic followed my pattern. |
| Dr Lockheart said: "Especially during the early days, nurses were telling us that they knew what was to come, and how it would impact on humanity. | Dr Lockheart said: "Especially during the early days, nurses were telling us that they knew what was to come, and how it would impact on humanity. |
| "It's a bit like your dream, insofar as they have information that no-one else does, but they're powerless to control the situation. | "It's a bit like your dream, insofar as they have information that no-one else does, but they're powerless to control the situation. |
| "They described horribly disfigured trees, and even one when a cat was sat on their face smothering them." | "They described horribly disfigured trees, and even one when a cat was sat on their face smothering them." |
| Prof Blagrove and Dr Lockheart have just released a book based on their seven-year research findings called The Science and Art of Dreaming. | Prof Blagrove and Dr Lockheart have just released a book based on their seven-year research findings called The Science and Art of Dreaming. |
| They are about to undertake a European and American tour of their dream analysis, including at the Hay Book Festival in May. | |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Sleep | Sleep |
| Swansea University | Swansea University |
| Swansea | Swansea |