When you look at the photo above, what do you see? Famed NSA document leaker Edward Snowden? Or do you see a 1930s boxer who needs to win just one last fight before he can finally retire?
Last night in New York an art collective named The Illuminator projected an image of Edward Snowden in Fort Greene Park. They were protesting against the removal of an unauthorised Snowden bust that was installed by unknown artists and then promptly taken away by the Parks Department. But one can’t help but wonder if passersby had any idea who they were supposed to be looking at. Even if it was a perfect likeness, John Oliver recently demonstrated that they may not have known anyway.
It seems to me that the problem with this “hologram” (and no, it’s not a hologram) could be that the projection is a copy of a copy. The Snowden bust already looked a bit off. But a photograph of a bust that’s then made into an image that can be projected certainly gives plenty of opportunities for the picture to become distorted.
What do you think? Is it Snowden or a Depression-era pugilist? Or is Snowden a time-travelling prizefighter and this conspiracy goes even deeper then we think?
Picture: Kyle Depew