Description

Time and again over the last few decades, we have read that the world is full of pic- tures and that, in fact, pictures are filling up the world at such a tremendously accel- erating rate that our environment is about to become a picture itself, and of itself. However, when a phenomenon gradually occupies and transplants almost everything else, then it starts disappearing as a particular phenomenon. In order to be noticeable, something must stand out against others. Otherwise it transforms into a true medium. In saying so, we assume that media are characterized as more or less ubiquitous and inconspicuous. The less we take notice of something, the more it attains the typical property of a medium. Each individual picture is a medium in a rather shallow sense of the word. The realm of pictures is a medium in a deeper sense, much in the same way as the individual morning paper, as a medium, relates to the institution of the printing press. It seems safe to say that the iconic (or pictorial) turn that many talk about is strongly tied to the proliferation and almost ubiquity of digital media, which, in turn, is a consequence of the spreading of computers at the work place.