De cerca y de lejos. Pensar (y pesar) la violencia

Abstract

There is a kind of image we call violent. One which attacks us and somehow inflicts pain from a distance. At the same time, there is a group of images we call sublime which are violent to some extent, and yet invite us to take delight in watching rather than making us close our eyes. While the former kind give rise to rejection, the latter one allows enjoyment; both groups, however, have some common features. It is precisely the way in which each group manages its own common features what invites us to propose a way to measure, weight, or at least think of, those violent images. For such purpose, we will make use of examples (audiovisual, pictorial, photographic, and sculptural) illustrating the differences between images of what we will call immanent violence and those of what we will call imminent violence.