"Surrealism... Or Ones Lost in Time"

by Farhad Mammadov

Breton himself used to adjoin the latter group of critics. Nevertheless, after while Dali faced the challenges and in 1937, about the painting said only these words “masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster”. Which meant, all wars waged throughout the history of universe are repercussions of female craft and ruse…

  Even great Peril of Athens who in his deathbed spoke his last but the most brilliant short speech that “…my friend you praised me a lot both in my life time and now facing the agony, but you’ve never mentioned my most brilliant features…that I’ve never been jealous of someone in my long life, and no one has ever put on funeral black dress because of me”, even Peril, undergoing the mesmerizing charm and ruse of his wife Aspasia campaigned against the ally state which dared to attack the island where Aspasia was from. One of the biggest war ever in the history of mankind, battles for Troy had been ignited by woman as well.”

  Such new and interesting information shook the foundation of Holtz’s prejudice about surrealism. He was successfully convinced that in fact such paintings have much more deep implications than thought.

  “Yeap, old friend. Sure… What a donkey me. Always ignored such paintings. By all means, apocalyptic monster – these womanlike creatures playing with blood, dark grey clouds…I wonder, how come I never thought of that. – Holtz wished to see the happy and victorious face of Ortega who striked a perfect ball into his goals. However, his face was pale and gloomy. Like he was frustrated with something. – I thought would be happy as you just gave me a good lesson on art”

  “For what, for repeating the perfect lie of Dali … In fact it was a trick. A trick to conceal his Nazis dreams. I think surrealism is other than that. This painting has something undiscovered yet,…something unprecedented, something new,…it has peculiar power…something supernatural. 12 years I’ve been gathering all kind of information regarding this painting. At last yesterday, I could decipher the real implication of such painting, theoretically… However it should be also validated in practice. Therefore I did invite you to this gallery not other. You’ll be my assistant in this unprecedented experiment. We will be just like Marks and Engels, changing the history of mankind.

  Since being kid, I have been mesmerized by “travel in time” stories. Herbert Wells made huge contribution to promotion of such theme. His novel “Time machine”. I’ve questioned to many scholars about the possibility of traveling in time…But the answer always said “It’s possible according to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, but in fact, its impossible”. It was not time machine from the novel what had been revolving all around my brain so long time. It was just an fragment from episodic dialogue inside novel.

  Within the dialogue they mention about a scientist who thought of picture as a perfect optimum for traveling in time. Thus, according to him, when we page the photo album of our childhood, for example, we somehow travel back to those times, body stays static, but soul shifts to other time and space. Such travelling may take place from quarter seconds to 2-3 minutes depending on the circumstances.”

  “Soul…are you kidding me?” – asked Holtz little bit astonished- I thing it was a metaphysic approach and has nothing to do with reality. You are a scholar, you shouldn’t believe in such things…Soul! Ha-ha-ha. Big up yourself, colleague! Big up yourself

  “I did not finish…My assumption is also based on this conception. However unlike the idea of that scholar, my assumption is of more profound nature and assumes the traveling in not past only. Future as well…” for a moment Ortega made a break and addressed his German colleague

  “Did you know that, his last days Salvador Dali spent inside his museum and passed away there as well?”

  “Why? Had he become broke those days?”

  “Holzt you are inattentive as ever. I said ‘his museum’. He showed an initiative and in 1974, had been provided with a building, formerly Municipal theatre, in Figueres and from that time on building had been at his disposal. He showed an initiative and gained himself a museum. Only one can show initiative who has whether money or authority,… and when you have authority, money comes willy-nilly. Cause and effect meine freund, cause and effect. Before you interrupted me, I was talking about his last days in museum. So, its allegedly said that, in 1989, several weeks prior to his death, different couples, thus one loving couple and two young friends, disappeared inside his museum…Figueres museum had been their last destination according to witnesses who saw them hour or two before their mysterious vanishing. In my view, they experienced traveling in time unintentionally, that without their rational consent. To put it mildly, those couples stuck in time, for more than a decade. They stumbled in past my dear freund.

  All narration of Ortega seemed pretty like a perfect script of a science-fiction movie or something, but in fact he was involuntarily captivated by giant Spanish ‘orc’ i.e. Pr. Ortega.

  “Very interesting. From now on, I’m surrealist be sure. You amazed me Ortega…”

  Ortega interrupted him aggressively

  “Will you listen or not?!

  “Oh, I beg your pardon”

  “I think Dali knew those visitors vanished because of this painting and blamed himself for their disappearance. In spite of being rather aged and sick, stayed in museum all the time to observe the visitors so they not disappear as well. People of city did not take it into serious, but he made up a special snap regulation prohibiting the entrance of visitors in couples; they should come either solely or in groups. Although such new conditions badly impacted the rate of visitor, he yet stood on his own. Several days after, he was found dead in the hall of a building holding new regulative poster in his right hand. ‘No couples allowed, visit solely or in groups’”

  After a long pause, Holtz encouraged himself to ask the question worrying him all this time.

  “All right. Lets say, traveling in time is reality indeed. Then how can you validate the idea that only couples may travel in time via “Burning Giraffe”. Why not one or three travelers?”

  Ortega burst into slight laughter

  “Very merely. This…”- he did not complete his sentence when heard loud coughing behind him. Both of them winced with sudden interruptance to such a harmonic silence around. It was a museum employee on black trousers and white shirt. Black guy in his 20’s most probably.

  “Excuse me Sir, but we are closing now”

  Ortega slipped toward him in a childish manner, grabbed a hundred pounds, and poked it into employee’s pocket.

  “If you prolong the closure for quarter an hour, you’ll get hundred more.”

  Money utterly changed the complexion of young servant. Generous smile unveiled all of his flashing white front teeth. As Ortega put it, ‘cause and effect’.

  “Thank you Sir, I’ll do all my best, indeed” – disappeared within seconds.

  “Now we must conclude the dialogue and get in to experiment. The question of yours ‘Why only couples?’ has a reasonable explanation. Thus you know that electric devices and gadgets work on power, on energy. In order to use a simple walkie-talkie, we must have a battery. Energy is product of plus(+) and minus (-) ionization process inside battery. Human can attain such power as well, applying it for time travelling. Only challenge, is finding out two opposite men, in all terms and extract energy for enabling transmission zone.

  That is why, I chose you Holtz, not Madam Anderson, for realization of experiment. I think me and you are utterly opposite men. I’m metaphysician, but you are bloody empiricist. I’m patient, you are intolerant, in contrast. I am known for my pacifistic views, on the other hand you are supporter of war. Money is no more than fragment of paper for me, but you – you’re greedy flay-flint jumping into mud for a quarter. Perfect antagonism. You remember, last week, when we dropped in to pub and had a good time, I did not have enough cash for paying the bill. Even though, you made no effort for doing me a favor, saying “pays who invites”. I hope we’ll major breakthrough in the history of mankind.

  “You son of a bitch!

>   “Hey…Hey… Pipe down! Don’t forget that, we’ll share same achievements if succeeded. Money…A lot of money you’ll get, I promise”.

  “OK. Lets get started or that cheeky young guy’ll reduce your current salary in to nothing. What should I do?”

  “Only stand aside the painting, and stare at it in 450 angle. And I’ll do the same from other side. Staring must be sharp one for stimulating negative and positive energy. I will persuade myself that we will succeed in this experiment and travel through time, you in contrast, should do the opposite…doubt and doubt, ironically smiling and sniffing”

  “Wait a minute…If succeeded, which time and space we’ll travel. We’ll we go to past or to future?”

  “According to my brilliant theory, we’ll emerge in 1937, date matching with year when Dali finally finished it. We’ll emerge in his house. About traveling future…hmm…I’ll explain you later. Now let’s start it”.

  Both scholars, took their positions like a football players before whistle blown. All attention on Burning Giraffe. Nothing happened first. Until Holtz nervously uttered “I’ve told you that its not gonna happen…trifle!” What they saw was enormous multi-color thunder in circumference around them. Painting had become transparently liquid and sucked both of them inside. Both felt