Pixelated flesh

Tools

Fuggle, S. ORCID: 0000-0001-9688-9593, 2015. Pixelated flesh. Cultural Politics, 11 (2), pp. 222-233. ISSN 1743-2197

Preview

Text
220527_2578.pdf
Download (365kB) | Preview

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1215/17432197-2895783

Abstract

The pixel and the technique of pixelating faces belong to a politics of fear and a digital aesthetics of truth which shapes public perceptions of criminality and the threat of otherness. This article will draw on Paul Virilio's account of the pixel in Lost Dimension in order to analyze its specific role and operation in relation to contemporary representations of incarceration. In particular, the article will consider the figure of the incarcerated informant. The incarcerated criminal or informant plays a complex role as both subversive other and purveyor of truth and as such constitutes an important example of the ways in which pixelation functions as a visible signifier of a dangerous truth whilst blurring, erasing and, ultimately, dehumanizing those "speaking" this truth. Our discussion forms part of a larger analysis of the production, framing and circulation of images of otherness, identifying Virilio as key to debates around the violence of the screen.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Cultural Politics

Creators:

Fuggle, S.

Publisher:

Duke University Press

Place of Publication:

Durham, NC

Date:

2015