The Art, Science, and Mystery of Sleep

August 13, 2021 8:05 PM

Sleep schedule all jacked up*? Stuck at home? Explore--virtually--the American Visionary Art Museum's current exhibit, The Science and Mystery of Sleep (alt YT).

What about the exhibition’s visual components?

"It is anchored by three handmade bedrooms by visionary artists — one by [the late Romanian-American artist] Noche Crist, who painted and sculpted a dream bed. Then, we have a beautiful bedroom set from Adrian Lee Kellard, a very handsome young man who was HIV-positive when that was a death sentence. He loved going to church, but then [because he was HIV-positive] was told not to come to services. So he transformed his bedroom into a church. And one [artwork] by Sam “The Dot Man” McMillan that was given to us 12 years ago and we wanted to include it."

And the science?

"The sleep research punctuating this exhibition covers a multitude of topics: the impact of sleep on obesity and diabetes, traffic and workplace accidents, test scores and crankiness among adolescents, and the influence of sleep on hormones and the size of testicles (!)."

And the mystery?

"''Dreams are 1/60 of Prophecy'... Like most of my shows, the exhibit is laden with quotes like the Talmudic quotes and ‘Sleep is the best meditation’ by the Dalai Lama, and “Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight” by [comedian] Phyllis Diller."--AVAM's Rebecca Alban Hoffberger

Other art: Alex Grey, Insomnia and Dying

(Bonus, elsewhere at AVAM! Patty Kuzbida's What me worry? bed)

* Soundtrack/pandemic anthem, first link: “Sleep Schedule” by Landis Expandis/Landis Harry Larry.

posted by MonkeyToes (3 comments total)

Oh man. I want to talk about sleep with other people SO MUCH. My sleep has been messed up since high school -- I had too much homework, too early a schedule, and never enough sleep -- and it has just been messed up ever since. Working second shift is great for me, but having kids has utterly wrecked me because their sleep schedules do not line up with mine!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:36 PM on August 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

This exhibit sounds so cool and I haven't been to the AVAM since before covid, so I should try to get down there.

I'm in the process of deciding how to decorate my bedroom around this J.P. Brammer print. Sleep is really important to me, but the last year or so I've had a lot of waking up in the middle of the night to be pointlessly anxious, so I think I need a sleep guardian.
posted by the primroses were over at 10:57 AM on August 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'd tell you about my sleep schedule, but I was asleep at the time.

AVAM is one of my favourite places. I haven't been in a few years, but I'm glad to see that they're still producing thought-provoking exhibits.

And thanks too for the LHL link. I do believe that Landis McCord saved my life. I was in a very low place a few months back, and by chance I heard Find The Magic. It sounds cheesy, but that track rewired something in me, and I've been on the mend ever since.
posted by scruss at 6:25 AM on August 24, 2021 [1 favorite]