On the left side of the picture, th

On the left side of the picture, there are two rectangular platforms. They have hard, well-defined edges. In contrast, a cliff on the right side has rough, jagged edges. In between is a seascape. The sea and the cliff lend the painting a rigidity, a permanence that grounds the otherwise dreamlike imagery. In the upper left is a thin, barren tree. This tree adds to the sense of flexibility of time as one clock flops down from a branch like a pancake. Dali, as a surrealist, focused on dreams and hallucinations. This painting combines images that are unreal with images that are familiar much like a dream which juxtaposes the ordinary and the strange.