This image was useful for an exploration of the concept of permeability in relation to visuality and "toxicity." I would be interested in seeing how the "ethnographic message" of this image is connected to the author's own research and interests in self-visualizing narrative making by veterans.
This image raises questions around the aesthetics of toxics, or toxic aesthetics. The bright yellow bag catches my attention, like the glowing blue toxins in the jars. How might the attractiveness of toxic things increase our dependencies and use of them? As the image suggests, the appeal of toxins is perhaps not only in their affordability and utility, but also their visual allure and attractiveness.
Distracted and dispersed. It's unclear what the eye is to be drawn to in the image. My gaze felt dispersed in an unproductive way. But perhaps this dispersal suggests the dispersal and permeation of toxicity in the landscape, perhaps there is no singular focus or area of concentration.
This appears as a landscape or establishing shot that offers some insight into a few of the everyday commerce activities in the site.
At first glance, this image looks fairly banal, or as she describes it, mundane. The explanation of the intent is very effective, showing the viewer how we have also been "tricked" into accepting toxicity in our everday lives to the point that it has become unremarkable and unnoticed.
The image evocatively uses a surrealist transposition to communicate the perils of developmentalism and aid. Surrealist visual art makes incongruous juxtapositions to think about how different elements work together. The image gets us to think about how global commodities make our lives easier but also come with certain toxic dangers. By layering the razor on top of the milk in the bucket, on top of the outdoor kitchen, the image conveys the sedimentary quality of developmental toxicity.
I first noticed the hand in the blue bowl of milk that is transposed over the background of the traditional kitchen. While the explanation does an effective job of explaining the composition and significance of the traditional kitchen and the blue plastic bin of milk, the hand in the bowl is a bit distracting - is there any way to remove it? Or is the hand there to say that it (symbolizing humans) can be cut by development (the razor)? If so, perhaps the angle of the hand could be changed? It looks unnaturally placed so it took me awhile to even figure out what was going on with it.
The image conceptualizes the "In/Visibility" of toxicity in otherwise sweeping scenic landscapes. The transposed glowing rods at the woman's feet could almost go unnoticed at a cursory glance, but the rods are indeed visible elements in the frame. Oncen noticed the glowing neon color draws attention toward it, obscuring the otherwise vastness of the frame.
The image evoked an eerie calmness for me.
The title of the image could also be Chemicals in Plain Sight. The image thoughtfully plays between the idea of plain sight and camouflage. Instead of hiding the rods among the trees, where they might better blend in, or transposing them on the water where they would really stick out, the artist carefully places the rods such that they are in/visible.
