Before I went to bed the other night, I wrote down a list of synonyms and expressions about sleep. It's not a physiological issue, I'm sleeping fine. Listing is a creative springboard method that I use to generate ideas. Since I will be participating in a trio show entitled "je dors..." (I am sleeping) in early 2013, it's time to let the old noodle fly.
Obvious associations come to mind: half-sleep for instance, that curious state when one virtually hallucinates, hovering in the twilight zone between consciousness and unconsciousness. Nightmares and the effects of sleep deprivation are also part and parcel of the experience. There is long-term sleep, coma, and forever sleep, death. My mind is already leaping about in multiple divergent directions. I might not sleep tonight.
What's on the list so far?
snooze - nap - nod off - sawing logs - counting sheep - grabbing some z'sssss - dead to the world - somnabulist - sleepyhead - sandman - doze - slumber - snore - catnap - shuteye
There's a wonderful expression one hears in Quebec: "cogner des clous", which conjures up a hammer as it repeatedly bangs a nail, not unlike the head as it nods off to sleep.
Props relating to sleep deserve a nod too (yes I know, bad pun): bunk
beds hold a particular fascination for me. Sleepers are neatly corded
into tight spaces. I did a series of drawings and paintings on this
theme many years ago.
Obvious associations come to mind: half-sleep for instance, that curious state when one virtually hallucinates, hovering in the twilight zone between consciousness and unconsciousness. Nightmares and the effects of sleep deprivation are also part and parcel of the experience. There is long-term sleep, coma, and forever sleep, death. My mind is already leaping about in multiple divergent directions. I might not sleep tonight.What's on the list so far?
snooze - nap - nod off - sawing logs - counting sheep - grabbing some z'sssss - dead to the world - somnabulist - sleepyhead - sandman - doze - slumber - snore - catnap - shuteye
There's a wonderful expression one hears in Quebec: "cogner des clous", which conjures up a hammer as it repeatedly bangs a nail, not unlike the head as it nods off to sleep.
Props relating to sleep deserve a nod too (yes I know, bad pun): bunk
beds hold a particular fascination for me. Sleepers are neatly corded
into tight spaces. I did a series of drawings and paintings on this
theme many years ago.I recently travelled from Paris to Florence in an overnight train. Two people were stacked above me, another three were filed away on the other side. We all fit nicely in a box.
Why do themes and patterns recur? I sense that I have a subconscious preoccupation with organization. I used to like putting Dr. Mario pills in the virtual bottle and felt a similar passion for Tetris. My kids taught me how to play and I eventually became the one to beat in the household.
I stopped when, after going to bed one night, I closed my eyes and saw little coloured pills spiral downwards deep inside my brain.
I can't let anything mess with the sandman..
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