a vivid demise

a vivid demise
by Gerhardt Coetzee

foreword

It was the profound emptiness of the spaces shown in these photographs which first attracted my attention. While the atmosphere in most
of them can be described as unsettling there is a sense of familiarity in these voids where life used to be lived so abwundantly. In the ruins
of Central or the night photography the contrast to the madness of being seemed to jump at me. The absent human figure, suggested by
evidence left behind, shadowed me from site to site. To me the spaces became spaces of possibility where I could delve into my own
experiences, imagination and memories.

Neuro-notes. The unconscious background level of muscle tone in our face is set by the brain stem’s reticular activating system. In the
blank face, muscle tone is neither aroused nor sedated, but “normal.” Studies show that, as in monkeys, for whom the face sends important
emotional signs, neurons in our forebrain’s amygdala “respond briskly” to the sight of another person’s blank face (LaDoux 1996:254).
Blank faces are considered pleasant or unpleasant, and rarely ever neutral. Imaging studies suggest that while encoding pictures of neutral
and expressive faces, three brain areas--the temporal cortex, hippocampus, and left prefrontal cortex--show high levels of activity.
Copyright © 1998 - 2005 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)

“Empty faces
in this crowd.
Express nothing
make no sound”
Roger Walters – Empty Spaces

“What shall we use
To fill the empty spaces
Where we used to talk?
How shall I fill
The final places?
How should I complete the wall “
Roger Walters – Empty Spaces

‘‘This species has amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on earth
But then it was over ’’
Roger Walters – Amused To Death

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‘‘Waiting to cut out the deadwood.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Waiting to put on a black shirt.
Waiting to weed out the weaklings.
Waiting for the final solution.
To strengthen the strain.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Roger Walters – Waiting for the worms.

‘‘Moslem or Christians Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they’ll fuck it up ’’
Roger Walters – Too Much Rope

‘‘Do you believe in a better day
Do you have a faith in a golden way
If you do then we must come together this day
Come together as one untitled’’
Roger Walters – What God Wants

© 2008 Gerhardt Coetzee
© 2008 Additional Lyrics by Roger Waters