Florida’s Dalí Museum has opened an exhibition called ‘The Shape of Dreams’ in which visitors can see their own dreams transformed into works of art.
Part of the exhibition is the ‘Dream Tapestry’ experience, which allows visitors to generate images inspired by their own dreams through an artificial intelligence (AI) system called DALL-E.
“We take Salvador Dalí’s own interest in science and technology to revolutionize the museum experience,” the Dalí Museum’s director Hank Hine told Artnet News.
“To make his paintings, Dalí invented a way of waking himself from his dreams and then drawing what had passed through his mind. We wondered, how can we give people direct access to their dreams like this?”
Visitors can describe a dream they have experienced, which is then turned by DALL-E into an artwork. This is connected with other visitors’ images to create a ‘dream tapestry’.
“We each have deeply personal dream experiences, unique and irrefutable,” the Dalí Museum’s website says.
“Yet they are transient, and until now, we could not instantly manifest those dreams into a tangible, visual image or share their visual splendor with others.”
‘Dream Tapestry’ was developed in collaboration with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Minds over Matter, and OpenAI, a research company founded by Elon Musk that created DALL-E.
‘Dream Tapestry’ experience
“It’s the first DALL-E-enabled exhibit in a museum and we’re so excited about it because it’s going to be a debut of how DALL-E can really enhance all types of people’s creativity,” said Natalie Summers from OpenAI.
‘The Shape of Dreams’, on view until 30 April 2023, explores 500 years of dream-inspired paintings. It includes works by Frida Kahlo, Paul Delvaux, Pat Steir, Philip Guston, Max Beckmann, Lodovico Carracci and Odilon Redon.
Earlier this year, a new immersive art experience called ‘Dalí Alive’, a partnership between the Dalí Museum and Grande Experiences, opened in Colorado.
Images: Dalí Museum
