Salvador Dalí on Decadence, Death and Immortality: The 1958 Interview

What Freud to antimatter, or what pre-birth memories and lucid dreams have to do with the ego of genius.

Between 1957 and 1960, iconic television personality Mike Wallace — who anchored the first documentary on homosexuality — hosted a series of 30-minute conversations with luminaries from the era known as The Mike Wallace Interview. We’ve previously seen him discuss morality and love Ayn Rand. In 1958, Wallace interviewed the great Salvador Dalí, then 53, making for a fascinating discussion of “decadence, death and immortality.” We see a heavily accented Dalí face a mildly mocking, partly confused, wholly curious Wallace to discuss everything from surrealism to nuclear physics to chastity to what artists in general contribute to the world. The footage is a true time-capsule of the moment, from Dalí’s famous third-person narratives of himself to the extended tobacco commercial prefacing the program, but more importantly, a genuine testament to the power of combinatorial creativity as we marvel at the great painter’s remarkable curiosity and vast pool of cross-disciplinary inspiration, from ancient philosophy to psychology to antimatter.

Dalí paints the Atomic Age and the Freudian Age — nuclear scenes and psychoanalytic scenes.” ~ Salvador Dalí

The interview is almost a caricature, though one that makes you truly grasp the gravity with which Dalí took his work, himself and his delightfully grandiose persona. When asked who the greatest contemporary painters are, he responds in a matter-of-factly manner, “First Dalí. Then, Picasso.” Wallace, half-mockingly, concludes: “The two geniuses of modern times are Dalí and Picasso.”

I cannot understand why human beings should be so little individualized, why they should behave with such great collective uniformity. I do not understand why when I ask for a grilled lobster at a restaurant, I’m never served a cooked telephone.” ~ Salvador Dalí

Scattered throughout the interview are a number of references to 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship, Dalí’s excellent semi-biography, offering a revealing look at the mind and creative process of the eccentric genius.

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Philippe Halsman’s Iconic Jump Portraits

Legendary Latvian-born American portrait photographer Philippe Halsman is one of the most innovative photographers of the 20th century. Over his lifetime, he shot 101 LIFE magazine covers, including the most famous photograph of Albert Einstein of all time.

But during the 1950s, he started a side project separate from the serious world of magazine cover photography: He began capturing some of the era’s most iconic artists, writers, actors, politicians and other public figures in a setup that defied the expectations of both their stature and the portraiture genre: Jumping. From Salvador Dali to Marilyn Monroe to Richard Nixon, his unmistakable, surprising and delightfully dynamic portraits survive in the form of a rare book plainly titled Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book.

When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears” ~ Philippe Halsman

Though the book is sadly out of print, you can score a used copy on Amazon or, if you’re lucky enough, your local library may carry it.

For a closer look at the iconic photographer’s creative process and quirk, we also highly recommend a companion read: Unknown Halsman, a fascinating exploration of Halsman’s lesser-known but remarkable work, including private and experimental photographs, decontextualized advertisements, and outtakes from famous photo shoots, many never before seen.

via But Does It Float HT @praxis22

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Literary Action Figures

As far as odd bedfellows go, it hardly gets any odder than literature and action figures. Which is why we’re all over these literary action figures. Roam the wide spectrum of genres and time periods with Jane Austen, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and, of course, William Shakespeare.

Then of course, things can get ugly. Brönte Sisters power dolls, we’re looking at you:

Also of note, though not action-capable, is this delightful and beautifully crafted series of Little Giants vinyl toys by Jailbreak Collective, available in a few collections: Writers (Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Willam Shakespeare and James Joyce), Scientists (Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla), and Artists (Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Vincent VanGogh and Pablo Picasso).

If anyone gets wind of a Susan Sontag action figure, let us know — we’ll trade a kidney for it.

hat tip Booktryst

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Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.