the power of imagery
It's so trite that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is only true, however, if it's the right picture. I wonder sometimes about myself, why I chose to be an English major, and why I still defend that choice internally - years later when it's gotten me nothing but unemployment.
Then something reminds me of how fascinating I find symbolism, words, imagery and their various combinations.
The department that I am currently working in is going to be closing in a couple of months. They've known this for a while now, and most people have become resigned to it over the months. The company is simply bleeding money from our department, and changing things over to a more productive environment would cost more and take years to put into effect - so instead they're outsourcing to another (American) company who handles outsourced call centers. Much like another company I worked for once. I don't say it's a bad idea, it's just a bummer for those of us who like working here.
Anyway, the department is closing and everyone knows it. They've started taking down the decorations all over. A framed poster falls down and it disappears instead of being rehung. There were two enormous bulletin boards right by the entrance to our wing of the building. Full of announcements, and lots of motivational posters about teamwork, customer service, achieve, reach, hope, etc. blah blah blah. You've seen it all before.
About a month ago, both bulletin boards were cleaned off. All the decorations taken down, and they sat there, empty for about a week. It looked very stark, and - to me- depressing. Then one day someone posted a small picture that they'd printed off from their computer. About 5" x 7" big, it was a nice, clear color photo. Of the Titanic. It's still there, by the way. It sat in the direct center of the largest bulletin board for a while, it was recentered a few times, and someone added more push-pins so the corners wouldn't curl, and you could see a lot of my coworkers snickering as they walked passed it for the first week or so.
This week someone took the picture and tilted it at a 45 degree angle, and then repinned it to the board. That was Monday. Since then the picture has tilted further forward and is making a slow decent toward the bottom of the bulletin board.
I think in this case a picture is worth at least a thousand words. It pleases me to no end, that the department seems to be banding together again to do this one little expression of our feelings, and I wish I could articulate better how great I feel to be able to witness this perfect example of the non-academic use of symbolism.
Then something reminds me of how fascinating I find symbolism, words, imagery and their various combinations.
The department that I am currently working in is going to be closing in a couple of months. They've known this for a while now, and most people have become resigned to it over the months. The company is simply bleeding money from our department, and changing things over to a more productive environment would cost more and take years to put into effect - so instead they're outsourcing to another (American) company who handles outsourced call centers. Much like another company I worked for once. I don't say it's a bad idea, it's just a bummer for those of us who like working here.
Anyway, the department is closing and everyone knows it. They've started taking down the decorations all over. A framed poster falls down and it disappears instead of being rehung. There were two enormous bulletin boards right by the entrance to our wing of the building. Full of announcements, and lots of motivational posters about teamwork, customer service, achieve, reach, hope, etc. blah blah blah. You've seen it all before.
About a month ago, both bulletin boards were cleaned off. All the decorations taken down, and they sat there, empty for about a week. It looked very stark, and - to me- depressing. Then one day someone posted a small picture that they'd printed off from their computer. About 5" x 7" big, it was a nice, clear color photo. Of the Titanic. It's still there, by the way. It sat in the direct center of the largest bulletin board for a while, it was recentered a few times, and someone added more push-pins so the corners wouldn't curl, and you could see a lot of my coworkers snickering as they walked passed it for the first week or so.
This week someone took the picture and tilted it at a 45 degree angle, and then repinned it to the board. That was Monday. Since then the picture has tilted further forward and is making a slow decent toward the bottom of the bulletin board.
I think in this case a picture is worth at least a thousand words. It pleases me to no end, that the department seems to be banding together again to do this one little expression of our feelings, and I wish I could articulate better how great I feel to be able to witness this perfect example of the non-academic use of symbolism.
posted by MJK at
11:11 AM
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