Sylvie Parent: How did the Dreamed project begin?
Frédérick Belzile: Two events got me thinking about Dreamed. The first is simply getting a computer and "discovering" the Internet, especially e-mail which I took to right away and made a part of my life. The second is related to my own practice of writing down my dreams. I've been writing my dreams since I was a child, I've always done it without really knowing why, in that there are a thousand reasons, yet no reason in particular. About three years ago, I randomly chose one of my notebooks and began transcribing dreams to the computer. Something happened then that was very important to me. By these actions I went through all my past personal life. This became a moment of significant personal integration. I shut myself up at home for three days and transcribed all my notebooks. This passage is crucial to the creation of Dreamed, because beginning with that moment I finally "arrived" from all my years of writing and I was able, on could say, to achieve, and have the desire to achieve, a "meta-state" regarding dreams and their writing.
At the same time, I was reflecting on the possibility of "creating" a work for the Web that would take into account the formal issues related to what we call cyberspace. Dreamed results from the intersection of these two things: my own practice of dream writing and the discovery of the Web.
S.P.: How did the project evolve over time? Did Dreamed's development surprise you?
F.B.: The greatest personal achievement of Dreamed was understanding how the reading of dreams leads one to get in touch with different, multiple subjectivities. All dreams have the first person point of view as common denominator, yet this "I" is very different in each instance. I know this seems quite banal and obvious, but you've got to go read the dreams… an incredible sensibility and fragility transpires through them. The I's of Dreamed are unprotected I's… The private experience of the dreamer, regarding his or her dreams, leads one to think very deeply.
I'm always touched when I receive the dreams to see that people often "offer" Dreamed their most precious dreams, ones they've held onto for years. I also find it amusing that no dreams "come in" when Dreamed is "exhibited" in art networks, exhibitions, etc… Dreamed is not connected to institutional art. I think it must easily rankle critics and practitioners, in the sense that it isn't a critical work. Dreamed simply is. "Tight, bright & cheesy".
Dreamed hasn't changed with time… it has the form I originally thought out for it. I think it's still too early for Dreamed. I'll have to wait a few years to see what becomes of it. It's not widely known about, either. One problem I already foresee is file size and management. Soon, Dreamed may be too heavy for the Web; refresh is already too slow; sooner or later, I'll have to design another system, another means of navigating the list of dreams, etc.
S.P.: Could you tell us about the importance of anonymity in this project? Dreamed has attained a kind of autonomy, like that of an independent creature having a life of its own. Was this an ideal you wanted to reach?
F.B.: It's extremely important to me to remain as "low profile" as possible in regard to Dreamed. That you don't see my name, etc. on the page, for instance. Dreamed isn't the work of a single individual but owes its existence to the contributions of the dreamers. It's like strolling though a garden without sensing the gardeners presence, knowing only that someone is there to water the plants. In Dreamed, I am just a "facilitator". The purpose of this intent is to confer a status of integrity and autonomy to Dreamed. Now that the protocols are in place, Dreamed no longer needs me. It can exist on its own. Another archivist, or webmaster, could take over. This aspect of the project was at the heart of my approach: I wanted, if possible, to create an object, a system that would become autonomous.
S.P.: A strange impression is gradually produced while reading Dreamed: a feeling that the dreams no longer belong to any one particular. The fact of being moved by these dreams, of sensing how they relate to each other, of realizing that certain dreams resemble ones we've made ourselves, contributes to this impression. How would you describe this phenomenon, which I would call for now the generalization of dreams?
F.B.: When I read the dreams, I don't have that feeling that "they no longer belong to any one in particular," for me, in fact, it's practically the opposite that occurs. I remain very aware of each dreamer, and of her particular outlook on herself and the dream. It's not a generalization that is produced, in my opinion, but rather a deployment.
I think Dreamed, in this respect, functions on several levels… Intimacy and individuality is preserved while something else is also happening. Like a system generating its own thoughts…
