Category Archives: juxtaposition

November 22, 2011 · 5:11 pm

Juxtaposition: the tear gas edition

Artifact 1. The editor-in-chief of the Bay Citizen was gassed in the #occupy oakland actions.

I looked down and my hand was black, my four fingers covered in toxic chemicals. I couldn’t feel my hand much but could clench it and unclench it and assumed I was okay. My blue flannel shirt also was black, stained where the canister had struck me and discharged. I was soaked in tear gas, but for some reason it was having less of an effect than the burning on my hand.

Another strange but not entirely unexpected thought popped into my head: 6 inches lower and it would have hit me in the crotch.

via Gassed – The Bay Citizen.

Artifact 2.  South Korean debate involves MPs using tear gas in the parliament building.

An opposition MP set off a teargas canister in the South Korean parliament in a failed attempt to prevent the ruling party passing a free trade deal with the US.

Proponents said the deal, the largest US trade pact since the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), could increase commerce between the two countries by up to a quarter. But the opposition claims it will harm South Korean interests, putting jobs at risk.

via South Korean MP lets off teargas in parliament | World news | guardian.co.uk.

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November 11, 2011 · 10:56 pm

Juxtaposition: camping

Artifact one: Camping before the Twilight premier

Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters/Landov

Artifact 2: Camping at #occupy oakland

Thanks to #occupy contra costa for the photo

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November 10, 2011 · 4:20 pm

Looking at objectification of women from the side

The process of objectification — to take a living, complex 3-dimensional person and render them into two-dimensions –  is a significant part of modern communication.  Advertising and television helping to constitute our very desires.  Reflecting on previous invitations of objectification can help us to understand how we are being organized.

Fray magazine has twenty images of playboy playmate lips juxtaposed with the causes of their deaths. The artist is Jennifer Daniel.

There are some obvious problems with this project.  Using previously objectified people runs the risk that the reader will simply re-create the old pattern of knowledge.  But something about this obscuring of the sexy bodies and the bringing forward of the deaths gets at the realness of humans who have been pushed aside for their body images.

For instance Miss November 1969 who’s turnoffs include: “people who are always late,” dies in an auto accident.  Was she rushing to an appointment?  Was she killed by someone drunk driving?  Was she driving?

I find the piece sad and lonely.  Perhaps in that way it can be a restorative to help respond to the relentless pressures of bodily discipline.

 

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November 7, 2011 · 4:38 pm

Chris Hedges and Cornel West prosecute Goldman Sachs

Thanks to Glen E. Friedman, we have a little write up and video from Chris Hedges and Cornel West prosecuting a corporation in the #occupy wallstreet park.

This is the kind of street theater we need to see in cities all across America. In addition to marching and occupying public places, we need to explore creative and provocative ways to capture the attention of the media. In our ADD culture, we’ve got to keep things interesting. West and Hedges are taking a page from the Abbie Hoffman play book.

via WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?: THE PEOPLE VS.GOLDMAN SACHS: CORNEL WEST AND CHRIS HEDGES PRESIDING.

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October 27, 2011 · 4:42 pm

Iran lectures the United States on human rights

Zing.  There it is.  Iranian Member of Parliament Zohre Elahian suggests that the United States be criticized for human rights violations stemming from police repression of protesters.

Elahian, who is the chairperson of the Majlis Human Rights Committee, also said that the UN Human Rights Council should address the issue of the violation of U.S. protesters’ rights.

“The scenes of the suppression of US protesters are upsetting and necessitate pursuing human rights (violations),” she said.

She went on to say that the era of U.S. claims about human rights has come to an end and the U.S. government has lost face due to the suppression of the people.

In addition, she called on the international community to condemn the use of excessive violence by the U.S. police against protesters.

via Occupy Oakland – police under scrutiny live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk.

[Although I got it from the Guardian, the original report is from the Associated Press. ]

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October 21, 2011 · 8:36 pm

Juxtaposition: legal immunity for soldiers in Iraq and South Korea

Artifact 1: US soldiers in Iraq and immunity from prosecution

One of the sticking points in the negotiations with Iraq was a US demand that American forces remaining in the country after December would enjoy the same immunity from prosecution as they do now. The Iraqi government, conscious of public anger over many controversial incidents involving US troops and defence contractors over the last decade, refused.

via Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Artifact 2: US soldiers in South Korea and immunity from prosecution

Still, attitudes toward the 28,500 U.S. servicemen and women stationed in South Korea have deteriorated. Many residents call for the South Korean government to end its diplomatic agreement that allows for the U.S. troop presence, claiming that they’re more afraid of the U.S. military peacekeepers than the North Korean regime they are supposed to be protected them from.

Seoul dance clubs once frequented by U.S. military now bar admission to American soldiers after concern expressed by female patrons, according to local press reports here. South Korea also created a task force to seek revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, that governs the legal status of U.S. troops in South Korea and elsewhere.

Activists here say that the SOFA, signed in 1965 and amended in 1995 and 2001, is unjust because it goes too far in protecting U.S. soldiers. Many want the police here to be given more legal jurisdiction to investigate sex crimes involving American soldiers.

via Alleged rapes by U.S. soldiers ratchet up anger in South Korea – latimes.com.

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October 13, 2011 · 5:54 pm

Juxtaposition: Curfews vs. Tahrir square

Artifact 1:

January 31: Mubarak still refuses to step down, amid growing calls for his resignation. Protesters continue to defy the military-imposed curfew. About 250,000 people gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and hundreds march through Alexandria.

via Timeline: Egypt’s revolution – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

Artifact 2:

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Protesters say they’re ready to face arrest again on the fourth day of the “Occupy Sacramento” demonstrations, but they are now calling for city leaders to rescind the curfew that makes it illegal to continue protests overnight.

About 14 protesters were arrested after midnight following Saturday’s event, and the attendees of Sunday’s march said they were prepared to follow suit and remain at Cesar Chavez Park until police arrested them.

“These arbitrary rules that say at midnight at this park, you’re not allowed to be here, that’s ridiculous,” said protester Morgan Lesko.

via ‘Occupy Sacramento’ Protests Demand City Rescind Park Curfew « CBS Sacramento.

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