Year 9 Dream Theory

Students undertook a variety of tasks using dream-based art as a guide to explore personal, social, and cultural issues that are prevalent in their immediate worlds. To begin with, students studied the dream theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and their influence on the establishment of the Surrealist and Dada art movements. They experimented with a range of techniques used by artists of these movements and various methods of creating art based on the idea of the subconscious mind. Students then began to investigate how dreams can be used as a source of creativity in a range of forms including film and contemporary art. Using personal dream exploration to guide their work, students created artistic representations and interpretations of their internal worlds. Through this intrinsic process, students’ artworks inherently began to make sense of and critique real-life ideas that reflected on the ethical and political undertones of their daily lives.