The Science Of Sleep

What Would Happen If You Didn’t Sleep?
A great way to highlight the impact of something, is to reveal what happens in its absence. Claudia Aguirre’s Ted Talk short, “What would happen if you didn’t sleep?,” we learn about the various issues that arise when one doesn’t receive the recommended amount of sleep hours on a consistent basis. Problems include: eye strain, inability for haptic perception, erratic mood, incoordination, short term memory loss, hallucinations and much more. When we sleep, we recover DNA and replenish our bodies through chemicals like Adenosine and Melatonin. Without sleep scientists hypothesize that there is a build up of Adenosine, which can increase the risk of strokes and the previously mentioned problems.

Click Here To See Claudia Aguirre: What would happen if you didn’t sleep?

Artist Inspired By Sleep
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)
Meshes of the Afternoon is an experimental film that delves into the inner machinations of a woman’s dreams. She pursues a hooded figure with a mirror for a face while passing by multiple previous versions of herself, creating a scene that is simultaneously first and third person. The camera movement directly responds to her actions, alluding to the unorthodox physics of a dream. After being awoken, she makes a last-ditch effort to murder the hooded figure just to be discovered dead herself. This film represents the interconnected, contradicting absurdity that dreams radiate. I can tell the creators put in a lot of effort and creativity!

Click Here To See Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)