Death and Disaster

Andy Warhol's photo series, Oliver Burkman's news series, unhealthy consumption and what to do about it.

Andy Warhol started his “Death and Disaster” photo series in 1962. The series would weave into his practice throughout the 60s and he produced over 70 pieces [sothebys]. Topics included car or plane crashes, suicides, homicides, electric chairs and death by tuna can poisoning. I’m not Andy Warhol so I won’t put words in his mouth, but I can talk about what meaning I get from them. I see this common human attraction of not being able to look away and media’s exploitation of the horribleness in the world. The images Warhol chose to reproduce are hard to look at. It was challenging to find an image that I could stand posting here. “Horrible” makes money. It makes money because it triggers a dopamine response in us. When selling more papers was the goal of newspapers, images of terrible death and disaster sold papers, In today’s mobile and online world, it now fuels the advertising dollars needed by media companies. It gets clicks.

With our cellphones, tablets, and laptops, we can easily find ourselves bombarded with imagery that doesn’t do us any good. Sure, it’s good to be an informed citizen, but it goes too far, too often. Oliver Burkman writes and talks about this phenomenon of feeling like you have to keep watching and clicking. He calls it “living inside the news.”

I’ve been reading horrible right-wing media newsletters, over-watching disasters like the LA fires and the floods in the Bay Area, Things stupid politicians say, things social media influences say about those stupid politicians… it goes on and on. It’s like looking at a horrible car crash. It’s harder and harder to look away. And it’s eating at time I could be using in much happier ways.

I didn’t used to care about the news at all, but it’s slowly crept into my life via social media + my own online pursuit of it. I know I’m far from alone here. and I know I share this sentiment with others when I state that — I find it sends me into depressive spirals that I then have to alleviate with videos puppies and kittens on instagram, or whatever happy/pretty/funny thing that feels like it’s helping. Spoiler alert, it only serves as a temporary relief [computers in human behavior].

I’m not making as much art as I’d like to be, and I always feel like I don’t have enough time. It’s time to put my foot down. I invite you to join me. Let’s stop it.

I don’t want to watch the four-year shit show that starts today. People will tell me if I need to show up for a protest or help in some other way. The very best way I can help is by more creating and less consuming. I unsubscribed from nearly every newsletter I receive, plus consumer goods emails, travel companies, newsletters I might like but really don’t have the time for, and I deleted every app I don’t feel like I need. It’s a start.

I don’t think all parts of social media are evil. I don’t think that having access to information is evil, I’m just questioning the motives behind it all. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and every time we open an app or website, click on a link, share a post, we’re stuffing someone else’s pocket at the expense of our time and mental capacity.

According to this article on Screentime in Additute Magazine, adults open their phones an average of 205 times a day and spend 25% of their awake hours on their phones. And in 2022 3,308 people died in the US due to distracted driving, mostly attributed to cellphone use while driving [NHTSA]. And hey, guess what? It’s actually shrinking your grey matter volume. It’s making us all (more) stupid.

ANYWAY. We all know this stuff, so I’ll shut up in a minute. Yesterday I went to a very cute cocktail bar (Havalina) in St Johns. I had one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had, enjoyed a plate of nachos with my husband, and listened to some local musicians playing some sweet tunes. I’d left my phone in the car but I kept finding myself trying to reach for it, to check some fact, to find out “who produced that album,” to remember the name of a place. Just my desire to pick up my phone was taking me out of the moment.

So, what’s my plan? Well, here are a few things.

Last night I played my bass along with Mazzy Star before I went to sleep. I miss playing music. I’ve also joined a choir that practices every Tuesday night. I started a track in garage band that’s just sitting there.

I’m putting a small notebook in my purse and backpack so I don’t pull out my phone to jot down an idea or thought. It’s not the To Do app’s fault, but if I open my phone to jot something down, I often get sucked into something else.

I want to start writing here to a draft during the week and publishing a post regularly, probably on Sundays. If I keep it in draft state all week and chip away at it, I won’t feel that overwhelming sensation that the post will take me ages to write, kinda like I’m feeling right now. I miss the practice of blogging. I don’t care if no one reads it. It helps me organize my thoughts and choose what to focus on.

I’ve wanted to start an “apocalypse journal” forever. I started a series of small paintings in 2009, but I want a journal dedicated to climate change that can be an inspiration for larger works. I’ve got some sculpture/electronics projects to finish that aren’t going to finish themselves.

WIP. Amazed that a tornado can exist with so little paint, my husband said “That’s because it’s just air. You need to add a cow flying out of it or something.” her’s probably right.

We used to have low stakes spaghetti dinners with friends in San Francisco. The idea was to serve simple food and there was no need to clean up beforehand. I miss dinners with friends. I miss friends. I am thinking about a regular Sunday dinner. Maybe once a month to start out.

I hope everyone is hanging in there. It feels very ominous right now. We need each other. It’s time to repair the disconnection we’re all feeling. We’ve got this.

XOXO -Alanna