Friday, May 20, 2005

Beware the Image

The image compels us; it contains the power that all illusory things possess. It instills the terror of ghosts and spirits in us. In the ancien régime, when the King died, his effigy was posted outside of his bedroom to let his people know that Kingship survived in the image. The image has the power of the unseen that we ourselves lack. The image condemns us from afar, then lures us closer and beckons us to the out-of-reach. Beware the image: Hsun Tzu writes “He who comes to you with censure is your teacher; he who comes with approbation is your friend; but he who flatters you is your enemy.” I want to write this on every billboard in Toronto. “He who flatters you is your enemy.”

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