week six_article ten_blog twenty

Martha Rosler_In the Place of the Public; Observations of a Traveler

It would appear that the act of flying, at least with regards to commercial flight, is a destabilized experience; one disconnected from the euphoric possibility of actually “being in flight.” It is a simulation/illusion which supplants that of a possible reality. As Rosler states, with flying “there is no journey, only trajectory.” Furthermore, the author notes the importance of de-realization to the vocation of air traffic control; it is only through the de-realization of very real situations (which are recast as information flow) that these professionals are able to cope with their jobs effectively. The question that arises then is this: is derealization/simulation one of the only effective coping mechanisms, both as individuals, and entire societies, that we possess which enable us to function at all in our contemporary world? Why does a distancing from reality, a derealization, appear to be our only method of contemporary existence? Are we not able to handle the world we have created for ourselves unless it is filtered by media, business, politics, or another agency of derealization?