Painting and Socializing COVID-19 Dreams

Abstract

Abstract: A catastrophic worldwide trauma occurred with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which caused changes in the content of dreams worldwide. In response to this, the science art collaboration DreamsID (Dreams Interpreted and Drawn; Dreams Illustrated and Discussed) held dream salons online, from March to July 2020, to explore the effects of the pandemic on the dreams of healthcare professionals and keyworkers. In each salon a worldwide audience discussed the dream of a key worker, and the dream was painted simultaneously so as to return the dream to a visual form. Three of these dreams are described here. Each is shown to reflect metaphorically the adverse circumstances of the pandemic. The painting of each dream is reproduced, with feedback from each dreamer about this process. This article shows how, through discussion with others, the socialization of the dream results in an artistic intervention and a collaborative act of creativity. It concludes that the dream salon, as a forum, combines the dream and rational waking life of the dreamer, one of the key aims of Surrealism.