The Present Image: Visible Stories in a Digital Habitat

132 Pages·2018·2.39 MB·English

by  Paolo S. H. Favero (auth.)

THE PRESENT
IMAGE
Visible Stories in a
Digital Habitat
Paolo S. H. Favero
The Present Image
Paolo S. H. Favero
The Present Image
Visible Stories in a Digital Habitat
PaoloS.H.Favero
VisualandDigitalCulturesResearchCenter(ViDi)
UniversityofAntwerp
Antwerp,Belgium
ISBN978-3-319-69498-6 ISBN978-3-319-69499-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69499-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017956575
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2018
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,
whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,
reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinany
otherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,
computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesare
exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationin
thisbookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublisher
northeauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerial
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher
remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.
Coverillustration:PatternadaptedfromanIndiancottonprintproducedinthe19thcentury
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisPalgraveMacmillanimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Thisbookisdedicatedtothatsublimepresentmomentwherelifeanddeath
embraceandmorph.
Itisdedicatedtoallwhodaretobecomechildrenandwhoeventually
disappearagain,leavingbehindnothingbutabunchofimagesfromtheir
passage.
Itisdedicatedtotheunbornchildalreadylivingamongus.
Itisdedicatedtomyfatherandmymother.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has been a true joy to write this book for which I have been given total
freedom. I owe this to my editor, Shaun Vigil, who encouraged me to
embark on this project and supported me throughout. Thank you Glenn
Ramirez,foryourpreciousworkonittoo.
Many colleagues and friends have given valuable contributions to the
variousbits and pieces that make up this book. Iam truly grateful to their
engagement and comments. So, thank you Ali Zaidi, Asko Lehmuskallio,
Cristina Favero, Edgar Gómez Cruz, Eva Theunissen, Judith Aston,
Giampaolo Coppo, Giuliana Ciancio, Melinda Hinkson, Naoyuki Ogino,
NilsDeGroef,RobertoAnchisi,SuorSilvia,TitoMarci,ValerioMonti.
ThankyouGudrunDahl,HelenaWulff,MarcusBanks,ScottMcQuire,
ThomasFillitz,UlfHannerzforyourconstantsupport.
Thank you colleagues at ViDi (Visual and Digital Cultures Research
Center, University of Antwerp) and thank you in particular Luc Pauwels
andPhilippeMeers,thebestcolleaguesanacademiccouldwishfor.
Thank you Shahram Khosravi, Arturo Andreol, and Rohit Nair, for
sharing with me the ups and downs that make up our life journeys. And
thankyouCordeliaJanssonMangia,foryourlovingpresenceinmylife.
Thehardestandperhapsmostpreciouschapterofthisbookisindeedthe
last one, which deals with matters of living and dying. This chapter was
conceivedduringaparticularlydifficultpassageofmylife.Iwishtodedicate
ittomyhumsafarGiulianawhojoined,supportedandchallengedmealong
thisperilous,painfulyetblissfuljourney.Mygratitudegoesalsotoallthose
ghosts(livinganddead)whohaveshedlightonmypath:WalterBenjamin,
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
JidduKrishnamurti,WilliamBlake,PinaBausch,ErnestHemingway,John
Berger,KartikaNair,RolandBarthes,SusanSontag,AkramKhan,Lhasade
Sela, Primo Levi, Dido, Pavel Florensky, Ella Fitzgerald, Vincent Van
Gogh, Tom Yorke, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and Rabindranath Tagore. With-
outthelightofmyghosts,friendsandbelovedones,Iwouldhavebeenlost.
Antwerp
Summer2017
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction:PresentImages 1
2 ParticipatedImages 19
3 ImmersiveImages 43
4 MaterialImages 77
5 ImagesofLivingandDying 99
Index 123
ix
CHAPTER1
Introduction: Present Images
Thesoulneverthinkswithoutanimage.
—Aristotle
Abstract Introducing readers to the notion of “present image” (the core
contributionofthebook),thischapteroffersinsightsintothekeytheoret-
ical tools on which the book builds. Starting with a discussion of the
manifoldwaysinwhichimagescreepintoeverydayhumanlife,thechapter
addresses a number of theoretical pillars. It explores the idea of images as
beingaconstitutivepartofthelivedworldofhumanbeings(theyareinand
of the world); it introduces the need to rethink dichotomic distinctions
between the digital and the analog; and finally it looks into the politics of
“presentimages”.Thechapterendswithabriefoverviewofthestructureof
thebook.
Keywords Presentimages(cid:129)Digitalversusanalog(cid:129)Politicsofimages(cid:129)
Presence
Imagescometousinmanyways.Theydecorateourhousesandoffices,the
streetsofcitiesandvillages.Theypopupinthemostunexpectedmoments
inourwalletsandsmartphones,booksandcomputers.Theyinauguratethe
draftingofalife-storyatthemomentofourbirthandoftenendupclosing
thecircleofthatstoryatthemomentofourdeath.Welivemostofourlives,
©TheAuthor(s)2018 1
P.S.H.Favero,ThePresentImage,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69499-3_1
2 1 INTRODUCTION:PRESENTIMAGES
toquoteMelindaHinkson(2017)“inthecompanyofimages”.1Imagesare
aconstitutivepartofourmanifoldwaysof“beingintheworld”(Merleau-
Ponty1962).Itisthroughthemthat,paraphrasingPaulStoller(1984:93),
weallowtheworldtopenetrateus.
Thereis,however,agreatdiversitywithregardtothetypeofimagesthat
human beings accompany themselves with. Images carry, indeed, signifi-
cantly different meanings across space and time (see Pinney and Thomas
2001; Edwards 2006). And they can also be significantly different from a
material and technical point of view. For many citizens of today’s “wired”
partsoftheworld,forinstance,imagesaretheresultofaparticular“mash”
born out of the encounter between things visual and digital technologies.
Within this dialectic, the “actual” and the “virtual”, the material and the
immaterial,themanualandthemechanicallyproduced,thevisibleandthe
audible, meet and merge giving birth to things, practices, and tokens that
are,atonce,newandold.
This generative dialectic has given new life into the pervasive debates
regarding the supposed “visual hypertrophy” (Jay 1994; Taylor 1994) of
latemodernity.Morethanever,imagesaretodayconsideredtopermeateall
aspectsofourlives.Tappingontosocialactors’growingcapacitynotonlyto
“consume”butalsoto“produce”theirowndepictionsoftheworldtheylive
in, images are transforming us, we could say by paraphrasing John Peters
(1997),into“bifocal”creatures.Incorporating,asMcLuhan(McLuhanand
Fiore 1967) suggested long ago, technology asa “natural” prolongation of
ourbodiesandminds,wehavelearnedtotrespasstheboundarythatseparates
mediatedandunmediatedexperiences.
The specific confluence of digital and visual technologies and practices
thatcharacterizesthehistoricalmomentandculturalcontextwithinwhich
this book is being written has a number of important implications. Politi-
cally,wearetodayasked,asscholarsandpractitionersinthefield,toprovide
acriticalandnuancedunderstandingofthedialecticbetweenliberatingand
oppressiveforcesinthecontextofcontemporarydigital/visualtechnologies
and practices. Epistemologically and ontologically, we must dare to renew
thetermsofourdebates,movingawayfromsimplisticdualismsandtoward
a perspective that integrates the digital with the material (analog) world.
Mostpeoplelivinginthedigitalhabitatsoftheworldhavetodayabundantly
overcome the naive fears regarding the death of photography (see Ritchin
1990)andthesupplantingofrealitybymechanicallyproducedrepresenta-
tions (see Baudrillard 1994; Der Derian 1994). They are aware of the
possible deceptions and mystifications that images can generate and have