The Collective Unconsciousness Project (TCUP) is not designed to be a finished project, but an evolving framework that changes by interacting with it. It exists as both an online community and personal space. The interface finds connections between dreams while exploring what it means to be dream-like. The navigation is purposefully non-hierarchical, based on chance and the user’s choices.

People can contribute to the site by logging their dreams. This has a double effect: helping to grow the database of dreams that the project can explore and creating a personalized dream log for each user. The explore section of the site is the public face of TCUP. This environment allows you to travel from dream to dream in a non-linear yet interconnected way. You navigate without being made fully aware of what the connections are, and with limited control of the path you take.

Each new dream is based on the last one viewed. Strange relationships can be made, and interesting stories revealed. Images surface and pass by, unable to be viewed for very long. These ephemeral snapshots add to the dreamlike environment and invoke the sort of fleeting memories found in dreams.

This exploration of dream connections isn’t meant to draw a conclusion about a particular dream or act as an interpretation. Instead I’m hoping to uncover interesting and entertaining stories that connect with the viewer on a personal level. The narrative from dream to dream can change and shift unexpectedly, but the underlying themes bring subtle coherence and clarity to the connections found.

TCUP is built to scale well. The more dreams that are entered into database, the more accurate and interesting the connections between one dream and the next will be. The ability for increased relevancy through natural evolution of the system will help the project mature with time.

Original concept: Simon King and Josh Dahl
Design and programming: Simon King (currentform.com)
Photography: Lucas Shuman (lackadaisical.com)