The images which change, destroy...
Illustration
The images which change, destroy, transform or enhance our lives are often operative at the subconscious level. It is only at a point of a radical shift from one image to another that we notice their power.
Momentous changes throughout Russia have been revealed to the world through the images of television. What was deemed essential is now devalued or denigrated.
One of the most haunting images seen in Moscow is a bizarre type of park. Strollers, young and old, walk up and down its paths. Children play everywhere. Adults snap pictures. Like many parks, this one also has statues.
So what is unusual about all of this?
The park's statues have been brought in from many areas of Russia. They are the stone images of former dictators. Instead of being placed upright, however, these statues lay prone on the ground. They are laughed at, sat upon, even spit upon. They have been transformed from images of power to worthless piles of statuary, suitable for the backdrop of a picture. Their only function now is to elicit reactions of ridicule and curiosity.
As statues are toppled, new doors have literally been opened. Inside these doors eyes are now fixed on an image once obscured or hidden for decades. It is the cross of Christ in countless reopened churches and chapels throughout Russia. "... so that he might come to be first in everything."
--Hedahl
Momentous changes throughout Russia have been revealed to the world through the images of television. What was deemed essential is now devalued or denigrated.
One of the most haunting images seen in Moscow is a bizarre type of park. Strollers, young and old, walk up and down its paths. Children play everywhere. Adults snap pictures. Like many parks, this one also has statues.
So what is unusual about all of this?
The park's statues have been brought in from many areas of Russia. They are the stone images of former dictators. Instead of being placed upright, however, these statues lay prone on the ground. They are laughed at, sat upon, even spit upon. They have been transformed from images of power to worthless piles of statuary, suitable for the backdrop of a picture. Their only function now is to elicit reactions of ridicule and curiosity.
As statues are toppled, new doors have literally been opened. Inside these doors eyes are now fixed on an image once obscured or hidden for decades. It is the cross of Christ in countless reopened churches and chapels throughout Russia. "... so that he might come to be first in everything."
--Hedahl
