»Die allgegenwärtigen Bilder sind keine, weil sie das ganz Allgemeine, den Durchschnitt, das Standardmodell als je Eines, Besonderes präsentieren und zugleich verlachen.« Theodor W. Adorno, »Bilderbuch ohne Bilder«, 1945 #PlatformRealism - ThreadSky

bildoperationen.bsky.social • 81 days ago

»Die allgegenwärtigen Bilder sind keine, weil sie das ganz Allgemeine, den Durchschnitt, das Standardmodell als je Eines, Besonderes präsentieren und zugleich verlachen.«
Theodor W. Adorno, »Bilderbuch ohne Bilder«, 1945
#PlatformRealism

Reposted from Michelle Henning

This is a great analysis. In Minima Moralia, Adorno criticised visual statistics (such as ISOTYPE) for their translation of the abstract back into the particular. His critique seems even more appropriate for Midjourney.

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michellehenning.bsky.social•81 days ago

Exactly! (I read it in the English translation as “Picturebook without pictures“). Though he doesn’t name him, it’s an implicit criticism of Otto Neurath and ISOTYPE.

bildoperationen.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yes, that makes total sense, also given Neurath's philosophical position within the logical positivism of the Vienna Circle, which Adorno obviously also wasn't a big fan of

michellehenning.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yes and I think it was Horkheimer who was very critical of Neurath’s Inventory of the Standard of Living. I do think that this idea of the “sensuous retranslation” (? From memory ) into signs chimes with what you’re saying about Midjourney.

bildoperationen.bsky.social•81 days ago

Totally! I think the passage you have in mind reads as follows in German, and indeed there's a striking resonance: «Die Entfremdung der Schemata und Klassifikationen von den darunter befaßten Daten, ja die reine Quantität des verarbeiten Materials, die dem Umkreis der einzelmenschlichen Erfahrung ..

bildoperationen.bsky.social•81 days ago

... ganz inkommensurabel geworden ist, zwingt unablässig zur archaischen Rückübersetzung in sinnliche Zeichen.» I find it fascinating how he relates alienation, classification and quantity of data, although I have some problems with the term «archaic» in this context

bildoperationen.bsky.social•81 days ago

His argument seems to be that a certain kind of visual culture, which includes ISOTYPE but also comic strips, shows people's diminishing capacity for abstraction, and that such images create a false sense of understanding as the world and human relationships become increasingly abstract

michellehenning.bsky.social•81 days ago

Odd isn’t it? I took that “archaic” to be a possible dig at Neurath who presented ISOTYPE as a modern hieroglyphics and was sometimes ridiculed as an “ancient Egyptian” because he had advocated for am economy in kind (bartering).

michellehenning.bsky.social•81 days ago

Ah sorry just saw this after I replied! Yes exactly that passage.

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