Final Sequence
Comments: 2
Last night as the viral haze was lifting I watched the video loops of debris fall and fall again over the Texas sky like the final sequence in Koyaanisqatsi (an obvious and inevitable resemblance which I nonetheless note for a reason).
All catastrophes are the same now, all scored by the same composer. The piece begins with the amateur videos laid down in ostinato loops over file or stock footage for tonal colour. The pulsing begins strong and immediately as the familiar editing rhythms – the handheld witnessing, the news anchor, the theoretically insightful studio guest, mission control – set up a matrix into which the new footage is dropped as it becomes available. Last night it was the telephoto majesty of a celestial event become a 12,000 mph glissando of tiles peeling off the wing and burning intercut with a motionless shot of a piece of debris in a driveway that looked like a hub cap from a crashed car.
We can triangulate vantage points from key moments, and this spread between locations, this moving into the ether, dissolves us into the Event. A “puff of smoke” is shot from below looking east while from some distance away to the north a camera tracks a wide arc in the sky. The trail of smoke describes the ecliptic of the unforeseen, breaking up, showering past us, heading for earth.
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2003.02.02 (Sun) • 13:21
Comments
Posted by Mary Beth 2003.02.02, 13:37
I am sad that this had to happen to some very nice people and their families. Sad for the loss to the scientific community. I found myself during the day wondering why I didn't feel more. I don't think I can equate this with the words "disaster" or "tragedy" nor do I care to hear the President pontificating about grief and national mourning.
And I feel bad about that too. But not that bad.
Posted by Jeff 2003.02.03, 07:36
I feel like there is a regularity to these tragedies now. I wouldn't say I am becoming used to them. Each one is shocking and sad. But the edge of the shock has been dulled just a little.
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