The surreal moment Salvador Dalí almost died in a diving suit
Among the eccentric and completely bonkers things that surrealist artist Salvador Dalí is known for, one of them is the time he almost suffocated himself to death in a diving suit at an art exhibition. You see, there’s clearly no limit to what this artistic genius and madman was willing to do to make a point, even if this meant putting his life at risk.
It all started in 1936, when Dalí visited a diving shop in south-east England, on the hunt for a deep-sea diving suit. The reason? He wanted to travel into the deepest depths of the human subconscious. One can only imagine the look on the shopkeeper’s face when he announced that. This ‘mission’ was going to play a part in a lecture he was going to deliver to the general public at the International Exhibition of Surrealism in London.
This event was to be, and is today remembered as, the biggest exhibition on surrealism. It brought together the finest names in 20th-century art, from Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Max Ernst to Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, and many more. It was such a big deal that on opening day, in June of the same year, the enormous crowds making their way to the exhibition caused the traffic to stop in Piccadilly.
The surrealist movement was widely recognised across Europe and America, but it was still making its way into UK society, and this exhibition acted as a debutante ball of sorts for that to happen. If it hadn’t been for World War II, the movement would have probably achieved far more.
Indeed, for those not in the know, surrealism was born out of Dadaism, a post-war anti-war movement that sought to shed light on the horrors of the Great War on the human body and psyche. In fact, surrealist artists believed that in order to improve as a civilisation, humankind should study and explore the subconscious and its powerful effect on human actions.
But back to Dalí and his mad escapades. Following the principles of surrealism I just outlined, Dalí wanted to wear the diving suit to encourage the listeners to travel into their subconscious with him. I’m not too sure how he was going to do that without being absolutely ridiculed, however. Star power?
On the day, he entered the room with two huge Russian wolfhounds held in one hand, perhaps they were supposed to act as guards while he temporarily evacuated his conscious mind. In the other hand, he held a billiard cue. Initially, the use of this was unclear. However, during the course of the lecture, it became apparent that he was slowly suffocating inside his helmet, and it had to be prised off with the billiard cue.
Upon being saved by others before he died of asphyxiation, Dalí seamlessly continued as if nothing had happened. He went on to finish his presentation with a slide show, but the slides were naturally presented upside down. Was it because he still lacked oxygen in his brain to make logical decisions, or was it a deliberate stylistic choice of this bizarre artist? We will never know.
