Visual Culture in a Time of War

Who was shocked? Who felt awe? Was it a shock that the most-advertised war in history had begun? Were Iraqis, repeatedly bombed since 1991, shocked? Killed, wounded, yes of course. Was the anti-war movement not shocked that it had failed? Is it still perhaps in shock?

Awe: a sense of reverence.

Are we not still in awe, unable to stop or divert a war that has no justification other than to keep us in awe?

Time to talk about the images that have crashed into our screens and kept us in shock and awe, despite ourselves.

This is one of a series of photographs circulating the web at the moment taken recently in a Chinese toy factory.

The full set is here

There's been a good deal of outrage over Chinese toys of late, after many recalls of dangerous items. This photograph restores a sense of balance to that outrage, some of which was more or less openly racist. How tired to do you have to be to sleep in a factory in the middle of a working day, with machines roaring all around you?

China's profit from manufactures such as these allows them to buy seemingly infinite quantities of American government bonds that in turn permit the US to finance such adventures as the war in Iraq. A new supplemental for $189 billion or so is being ponderously "debated" before the Democrats cave in as usual. This photograph shows one of the hidden costs of their refusal to act.

The long drawn-out saga of Steve Kurtz and the Critical Art Ensemble's struggle with federal authorities has taken a turn for the worse. As you recall, Kurtz was at first investigated for bio-terrorism after emergency services came to tend to his wife Hope after her ultimately fatal heart attack. The equipment being used by Steve Kurtz, a tenured professor of art at SUNY Buffalo, provoked a massive overkill, including FBI investigations and the search of his house by agents wearing full HazMat gear.

While that terror accusation died a rightful death, authorities slapped a mail-fraud charge on Kurtz for obtaining some standard-issue bacteria for research purposes from geneticist Robert E. Ferrell. Suffering from non-Hogkins lymphoma and the after-effects of several strokes, Ferrell has now entered a guilty plea in the case, making it far more likely that Kurtz will also be convicted. Although his family have characterized this step as the result of persecution, prosecutors seem determined to go ahead. Even Ferrell, sick as he is, faces a six-month custodial sentence. Cold times for artistic and intellectual freedom in the US

For an important archive of video created by soldiers during the current conflict see the new essay in Vectors by Jennifer Terry, titled "Killer Entertainments."

For the effects of what is seen, see a diary on PTSD on Daily Kos

ABC News ran a little feature on Monday night about how terrific things are in Fallaujah these days. Marines escorted a reporter wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet around a few streets and contrasted the reception they received with the full-on battles of recent times. Needless to say the interpreter was wearing a full face mask to avoid potentially fatal recognition.

Today Juan Cole reports that there is a total ban on civilian use of motor transport in Fallujah, leading to 80% unemployment.

The ABC report was not a "lie" in the sense that the events depicted actually occurred. But in the absence of any context, the average reader was bound to receive a distorted impression of what is happening.