THE CAPTIVATING IMAGE
We admire an image for a time — we can interpret and learn from it — but we may grow bored and abandon it in storage. We insist that material degradation means a loss of history or memory, so we employ acid-free substrates, the Cloud, and archives with light, temperature, and humidity controls. The captivating image exploits our draw toward stability to convince us of its permanence and stillness in storage, when actually, it is a skilled trickster. It only lies dormant and, when we next encounter and dust it off, it ensnares us within its own frame. Its pigments, pixels, letters, and lines reach out to captivate us, if only briefly, and we realize it has become unfamiliar during its confinement in the dark. If we examine the image carefully, we can locate opinions and vantage points we disregarded before. Upon noticing these elements, we might consider revisiting the captivating image more often.
