Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell decided to endorse Obama. I am happy about it. It reminded me of how he presented Weapon of Mass Destruction Iraq was considered to have in the U.N. Security Council, prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and later he considered how careless he had been. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle created a magnificent piece for Documenta 2007, combination of two Phantom Truck, the recreation of a mobile biological weapons lab as described by Powell, and The Radio, a radio in a room totally full of orange light filtered through the big window. The piece The Radio functioned as altering and “filtering” our understanding of reality and we, next, went into the piece Phantom Truck in a room totally dark. I became almost blind with my altered perception.
In a group of people who have all the same idea and surround you, mostly it is quite difficult to say something against them. It becomes also difficult to negate what they say especially when they treat you nicely. This is very scary aspect of human beings, a pack animal.
Milan Kundera wrote:
“When you sit face to face with someone who is pleasant, respectful, and polite, you have a hard time reminding yourself that nothing he says is true, that nothing is sincere. Maintaining nonbelief … requires a tremendous effort and the proper training …”
(photos are from http://inigomanglano-ovalle.com/ )
(Mr. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, please let me know if you have trouble with my use of your photos here. I really admire your work.)