by Jon Lackman | 23 March 2006 | Books, Contemporary
According to Otto Karl Werckmeister’s new book, Der Medusa-Effekt: Politische Bildstrategien seit dem 11. September 2001, September 11 forced all images to occupy one of two spheres: “a non-public operational sphere in which images circulate around power [or] a public sphere of mere appearance in which only weak images succeed.” He concludes that “in the face of this situation, epistemological or aesthetic analysis is no longer sufficient.” Only political critique is suitable, he finds. In the NZZ, reviewer Peter Geimer lauds his discussion of war photojournalism (such as Bruno Stevens’), but ultimately finds Der Medusa-Effekt too parochial: no mention of Sontag, no Virilio, no Theweleit. Not to mention: what does the medusa myth have to do with anything? Apparently Werckmeister never says.
