Whoa-ness
September 18, 2009
I stumbled upon this animated GIF this morning. I’m not sure of the authenticity of the image, though it appears quite realistic. The note below the image said something along the lines of this being captured in Pakistan immediately at the time of the suicide bombing. I guess the camera’s memory card must have been intact and this is what they found.
Presumably there are hundreds of such images on memory cards and video tapes all around the world. This is the first animated photo sequence I have seen and it goes a long way in illustrating the suddenly expected and massive force of a bomb within a crowd of people.
The image both fascinates me and makes me very sad. I am drawn in wonder to the physical force of the explosion, but as my mind wanders down that path it quickly reminds itself that those were real people, and they really were there in that place caught up in the horrible mess. From that point on my mind sort of stops thinking. My thoughts do not proceed with intrigue at how “awesome” the image is and how incredible the physics are. Feeling a bit of guilt, it shamefully says, “well, there’s not much I can say about that,” and then my mind sort of closes up shop and continues on its way surfing the internet, looking for more positive news items and interesting images. This is my morning routine after all. I must carry on. I must work. What am I to do? Stop and pay my respects? Who are those people? Why should I care? I do care though. But why?
In many ways this says a lot about my attitude towards world news, violence, voyeurism, my disinterest in the “wars” we’re fighting, class structures, America, religion, God, East and West, humanity, the philosophy of mind, physics, guilt, shame, Photoshop, procrastination, work ethic, politics, photo-journalism, art and pretty much everything else you can imagine. You can rattle off a million thoughts of your own thus illustrating the meaningfulness of a powerful image. Your mind says, “Whoa,” and then a force more powerful than gravity sucks your thoughts down a black hole of pretty much every concept you’ve every spent time thinking of. A powerful image is a commentary on literally everything.
How does this image relate to a hot dog? Well, it’s a bunch of mutilated burnt flesh of mammals. How about a toilet? Well, just take a look at this shit storm here! OK, what about outer space or something even more removed, what about kittens or Kansas, or Antarctica or something that isn’t an object, what about happiness, or Love, or Bill Cosby or something totally unrelated!? Well, allow us to link things up then… Outer space, the universe, kittens and Kansas, those are just objects that the mind looks for in its search for the antithesis of this image. The mind looks for non-action, peacefulness, dullness, inactivity—anything that is totally opposite from the images language, therefore it has everything to do with the image because the mind is desperately trying to think of something that will mask or avoid or deny the severe negativity and fierce action of the image. The mind is emotionally injured and looking to cute little kittens and the stillness of planets and stars in order to regain the equilibrium of peace and complacency. “Don’t shake up my world!” it says.
Antarctica is an easy one, oil and geography. Political strife over a sense of owning land. Dispute! Value! What land is worth something and what land is worth nothing and why?
Bill Cosby is a 72 year old American black man. I am a 27 year old American white man. These people being blown up do not share those characteristics with either Bill Cosby or I. Even though that is objective information, is it a viewpoint that is too focused on race? Do I posess racial bias? Is it possible not to? Would I hurt more inside if the people blowing up looked more like me because then I could imagine myself in that situation more realistically? There is no escaping the grip of a powerful image. Your mind is lassoed and yanked into the time-warping thought process of “Whoa-ness”.
You get the idea, so as stated earlier… there’s not much I can say about that (image).
Now you will wander away with your own thoughts. Fascinating how the mind works isn’t it?
