Stillness sets upon a dumbfound city. As the wave of silence slowly makes its way through the cracks of streets and sidewalks, a sheet of light swallows a building after a building and all who inhabit them. Like a fading memory, a washed out photograph of the United Nations Secretariat by Erin Shirreff removes its viewers from its once-vibrant existence, instead of inviting anyone in.
Perhaps, it is an image of a city right before a giant ball of fire strikes it in an apocalyptic Armageddon. Right before the moment of nothing, an unbearable weight of stillness prevents people from running for their dear lives, from screaming, even from moving. The light is overwhelming, all-encompassing and growingly alarming. Danger looms in the deadly fog of light, leaving nothing human left behind.
But perhaps, the sense of doom is not necessarily brought by an imminent disaster. Maybe the image of this lifeless cityscape is a washed out memento of a time long, long ago. The photo is losing its vibrancy in the rays of the midday sun. A time treasured now reduced to an unwanted panorama captured on a piece of 5x7 matte photo paper. A sense of longing is replaced by eventual indifference, and finally, by total stillness.
Try and make out where buildings end and where the sky begins, try to figure out if anyone inhabits any one if the lifeless floors. Is anyone happy going to work in this city? Is anyone happy to breathe, dine out, fall in love when he or she is surrounded by these lifeless creatures? Is anyone even alive?
Stillness is numbing and stifling. No more stillness; plant a tree, walk a dog, smile at a pretty stranger. Live, while you still can.
"Design Delirious"
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