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Dagnoslaw Demski
Living Images and Gestures in Wartime:
1he Other as an Iconoclastic Figure
Why is it that people have such strange attitudes towards images, objects, and
media? Why do they behave as if pictures were alive, as if works of art had
minds of their own, as if images had a power to influence human beings,
demanding things from us, persuading, seducing, and leading us astray? Even
more puzzling, why is it that the very people who express these attitudes and
engage in this behavior will, when questioned, assure us that they know very
well that pictures are not alive, that works of art do not have minds of their
own, and that images are really quite powerless to do anything without the
cooperation of their beholders?
(Mitchell 2005: 7)
Iconoclasm is an essential part of what it means to be a critique. But what
is being broken by the hammer? An idol. A fetish. Something that is nothing
in itself, but only the screen on which we have projected, by mistake, our
fancies, our labor, hopes and passions
(Latour 1998: 65)
Behind the pictures of the past are people who witnessed the time and the events.
‘The representations of any era carry evidence of the thoughts and convictions of
real people. Sometimes the events are tragic, as in times of war, and their influence
on images may be more pronounced. This can be analysed with the help of histori¬
cal sources—documents and visual material—that reflect the thorough changes.
From the viewpoint of the individual one can observe that at some point
people who used to belong to the same world may begin to experience increasing
polarisation. At first unnoticed, this polarisation progresses along new lines:
political, ethnic, religious etc. Seen from the local perspective, this constitutes
acertain phase. When unable to find a solution to new tensions, opponents become
enemies. Moreover, one side starts seeking more power at the expense of the other.
If the two sides feel that nothing can be done to ameliorate the tense situation,
the abandonment of former friendships and cooperation may follow leading to
severed ties and relinquished hopes. The evil is always seen as coming from the
outside. Someone who was usually represented in a good way is converted into
someone evil. When everyone freezes in their positions, the next step is violence.
These conditions precede the creation of the Other.