Salvador Dali, well known for his surrealist paintings, invented a method he called “Slumber with a key”. During the afternoon, Dali would sit on a chair with a key in his hand. Beneath the key, he would keep a plate arranged upside down. Then he would let himself drift off to sleep. The moment he was about to fall asleep, the key dropped from his hand and fell on the plate. The noise of the key falling on the plate would awaken him, often with artistic ideas.
