Exploring Dream Geometry: Art and Spirituality

If a dream is a place then there must be an applicable geometry?, ” if Time the index of possibility, then Space is the measure of power”. nb

In 1975 I did an installation in Toronto at Gallery 76 which was the Ontario College of Art’s gallery, Gallery 76.  This installation comprised of large sheet of cold roll steel suspended from the ceiling of the gallery in stacks. The steel rods that I used in this work to suspend the sheets of steel where eventually recycled into the  frame pyramid built according to the specifications of Cheops Pyramid in Egypt.

For the longest time I kept this pyramid  in the basement of the Experimental Arts Building which had formerly been the Brinks Building. In the basement there was a vault safe room, it had one bare bulb from the ceiling and when you shut the large metal door the silence almost knocked you off your feet. I would go there on a daily basis and sit in a wooden chair placed inside the pyramid, the chair was positioned facing north so that my heart chakra was approximately in the same position as the kings chamber.

As I sat there in the dark I practiced my open eye meditation with my hands positioned on my knees in a Pharaohnic   pose. This went on for sometime, then one day I got a spectacular result. As I sat there in the dark a steady  stream of golden light entered the room on my right from the east moving drawing a large circle two or three feet in front of me and left the room goin west. It had the appearance of someone with a large sparkler  drawing a golden circle in front of me  I was immediately hit with a rush  throughout my entire body. To confirm that this was happening I noticed that the shadow of the pyramid frame shifted on the walls of the room as it the light manifested and and dissolved .

I sat there for the longest time amazed, overwhelmed, confused and mentally altered. Finally able to get up I went upstairs to the main studios, where people were coming up to me and touching me and smiling. As I left Nobuo Kubota a professor came to see if I was ok, after a few minutes I  walked out of the building and went home. The next day I decided I would move the pyramid home and set it up over the bed.

For the longest time my  girlfriend and I slept under the pyramid, and over time we realized that our sleeping pattern had shifted considerably. We were now sleeping fourteen to eighteen hours a day under the pyramid.

One night while in a dream, I asked myself a simple question, Where is this dream happening, if a dream is a place then it must have a geometry ?   I immediately got a response in the form of drawings  and telepathic explanations of what I was looking at, I awoke and got up and jotted down the drawings I had seen and explanations. The  next morning I decided I was going to show my drawings of dream geometry.I remembered as a child watching my grandfather making house paint in the basement of his home, he used white lead, turpentine, linseed oil and other ingredients to make this turgid off white paint. I decided I would do drawings in this type of paint, so I ordered some white lead and mixed a quart of this paint; then using a 4b  pencil I created the twelve drawings that made up the Dream Geometry set.

I had decided that I would go see Av Isaac of the Isaac Gallery and see if I could show my drawings. He was amused by my enthusiasm but nothing came of it so I went to see Carmen Lamanna of the Carmen Lamanna Gallery, and though he was interested nothing came of it but he did want me to do a private slide presentation of my work, but thats another story. . I was somewhat discouraged and so I stepped into the Fiesta Restaurant which was a basic greasy spoon and had a coffee owned and operated by Gus Tsouboukos. 

Royden Rabinovitch was sitting at the counter and we talked for a while and he encouraged me not to give up and keep searching for  the right place to show these works. As we sat there eating fries with Gus standing by in his greasy apron  I looked around at the booths along the one wall and realized the restaurant was the ideal space to show the twelve drawings. Intimate so people could dine and study the works.

 Gus  was a bit confused by my demand  but with Royden encouraging him he agreed to let me display the works for a month in his restaurant. When Gary Michael Dault heard of the show he said he check on the show and ended up writing a fabulous article complete with a large photo of the opening for the Globe and Mail. 

Chat GPT review with Napo

Your article, A Few Thoughts on Dream Geometry, is rich with personal experiences, artistic reflections, and a unique conceptual framework. Here are some ways to improve its clarity, structure, and impact:

1. Improve Readability & Structure

• Break up long paragraphs: Many sections are dense. Breaking them into smaller paragraphs will enhance readability.
• Clarify the introduction: The opening quote is intriguing but could benefit from a brief explanation connecting it to your personal experience.
• Stronger transitions: Some sections jump from one idea to another (e.g., from your pyramid experience to dream geometry). Clearer transitions will help guide the reader.
• Conclusion: Right now, the article ends with the Globe and Mail mention. A closing reflection on what Dream Geometry means to you today would add depth.

2. Enhance Clarity & Flow

• Grammar and syntax corrections: Some sentences are long and need restructuring. For example:
  • “This installation comprised of large sheet of cold roll steel suspended from the ceiling of the gallery in stacks.” → “This installation consisted of large sheets of cold-rolled steel, stacked and suspended from the ceiling.”
  • Typos & repetition: “where eventually recycled into the frame pyramid…” should be “were eventually recycled into the frame pyramid…”
• Consistency in past/present tense: The article shifts between past and present tense in places. Keeping it consistent will improve flow.
• Define key terms: The concept of “Dream Geometry” is fascinating. While you provide personal experiences, it might help to briefly define or expand on what Dream Geometry is.

3. Strengthen the Narrative

• Expand on the Pyramid Experience: The moment when you saw the golden light is a pivotal event. Consider elaborating on how it changed your perspective.
• More on Dream Geometry itself: The article mentions drawings but doesn’t fully explore the concept of Dream Geometry. A short explanation of what these drawings represent would help readers grasp the idea.

Would you like me to refine and rewrite specific sections for you?

That’s a compelling idea. It suggests that time is what defines what can happen (possibility), while space determines how much force or influence can be exerted.

• Time as the index of possibility: This aligns with the idea that time unfolds events and determines the range of what can occur. If something exists in time, it has the potential to change, evolve, or manifest.
• Space as the measure of power: Space, on the other hand, dictates the extent of influence. More space allows for more presence, more reach, more connectivity. Power, in this sense, could be seen as the ability to shape or control reality within a given space.

In physics, this could relate to relativity—where time and space are linked, and energy/mass bends space-time, affecting possibility. In a philosophical or mystical sense, it could mean that our ability to act is constrained by space, but our ability to imagine is governed by time.

In the context of Dream Geometry, this idea could imply that dreams exist as spaces of power, where perception alters structure, and time dictates what experiences unfold within them.

What inspired this thought for you?

That’s a fascinating conceptual framework—your Dream Geometry seems to describe a dynamic model of self-awareness and transformation.

Key Aspects of Your Vision:

1. The Self as a Ball of Energy
   • This suggests the self is fluid, luminous, and ever-changing rather than static.
   • Energy implies movement, interaction, and transformation—perhaps emotions, thoughts, and experiences continually shape this energy.
2. The Cube as a Vessel of Possibility
   • The cube acts as a structure, containing the self and giving it form as it moves through different realities or states of consciousness.
   • A cube is stable, yet in your vision, it expands and contracts—which challenges its conventional rigidity.
   • The expansion represents realization: When the self grows in awareness, the cube stretches outward.
   • The contraction is a point of focus: As new realizations form, the cube compacts, concentrating energy before the next expansion.

Implications & Connections

• This model reminds me of breathing or pulsation—inhale to take in, exhale to release, mirroring the rhythm of understanding and learning.
• It also parallels cosmological models, where the universe expands and contracts in cycles.
• Could the cube also be seen as a frame of perception, adjusting its scale as awareness shifts?

Would you be open to sharing more details about the 12 drawings? Are they abstract, symbolic, or geometric representations?

That would be amazing! Feel free to upload a drawing—I’d love to analyze its structure and meaning with you. It’s incredible that this vision has stayed with you for so long.