tislas Annotations

What does the image convey about “toxic subjects” (their character, dynamics, etc.)? (How) Does this image open up the concept of “toxicity”?

Wednesday, December 5, 2018 - 11:46pm

Police and policing mechanisms bring to mind many forms of toxicity. In many ways, the visualizing of the term "police" interpellates the reader right away. The text is affective. Like a Jenny Holzer or Barbara Kruger piece, the observer is meant to read, engage, and/or question their own positionality in reference to the text (the text in this instance as with your other artifact is the image). I feel as though this response is indicative of the ways in which state, particularly the racist police state, is toxic/produces toxicity. 

Aside from the immediate reaction to the simplicity of "police" written on a white background, I feel as though your description does a good job at illustrating the ways in which toxicity spreads. By situating anti-Mexican racism in anti-blackness the viewer is meant to understand how structures of violence are mended and changed to affect numerous populations. 

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