Where Weinergate Stands in a Long (and Strange) Visual Tradition

New York Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner’s misadventures with his digital camera, Twitter account, and boxers have given us yet another “-gate”— Weinergate. But Weiner’s not the first male figure in power to make some display of his nether regions in a confusion of sexual and political power. Long before tweeting and sexting, kings secular (and sacred) made a point with their genitalia that contributed to a tradition that Weiner’s just the latest, strangest, and saddest to join. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Where Weinergate Stands in a Long (and Strange) Visual Tradition."

[Image: Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of Henry VIII (detail). 1536.]

Erasing the Image of Osama Bin Laden

The cover of the May 16, 2011 issue of The New Yorker features a cartoon by Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu in which the image of recently killed terrorist Osama Bin Laden is erased. Titled “Rubbed Out,” the painting depicts the freshly erased face of Bin Laden with the well-used pink rubber eraser laid carelessly on top (detail shown above). Now that it is almost definite that the photos of the dead Bin Laden will not be shown to the public any time soon, this may be the closest, and most poignant, thing. Ekşioğlu’s cartoon made me think back to Robert Rauschenberg’s famous 1953 work, Erased de Kooning Drawing, which lived up to its title in every way. Looking back on Rauschenberg’s thinking may hold some answers for what this new image may hold for the legacy of Bin Laden and the War on Terror. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Erasing the Image of Osama Bin Laden."

Why the Bin Laden Death Photos Need to Be Seen

One of the surprising details of the death of Osama Bin Laden since President Obama’s announcement near midnight Sunday night has been the absence of what Shakespeare’s Othello called “the ocular proof.” For all the claims of DNA proof of identity, nothing seems to satisfy as much as that missing photo, however gruesome it may be. For some, that photo would satisfy a bloodlust borne of revenge. For me, however, I see the release of that photo as the true closure our society needs—not as the end of revenge, but as the beginning of a new world view. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why the Bin Laden Death Photos Need to Be Seen."