Last week in Frieze I came across an article entitled 'That Eye, The Sky' in which the author mapped out the recent influx in rather trendy photos utilising the birds eye view. Among those photos cited were the infamous shot of Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher from above and the advert for the Berlin Film Festival where a group of rather organised fans were photographed picnicking in the cue (possibly referencing the initial shot of the 1977 Charles and Ray Eames film Power of Ten). The author suggests that these non-traditional angles through which we see the world are a result of technological advancements. Jennifer Allen (article author) writes, ' it's intriguing to contemplate the difference between Renaissance linear perspective and the zooming celestial eye of our advanced space and information age, market by satellites, digitalization and the Internet.' So are we beginning to see the world differently or are these shots merely turning the intrusive eye of Google Earth into another accepted convention, fashionable view of the world even? I do not mean to be cynical but I believe that these photographs are not evidence of us seeing the world differently but instead seeing the world the same. The fact that the birds eye has become a 'fashionable' viewing station suggests to me that it is now an acceptable convention to see the world through the eye that sees you, the eye of surveillance.

http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/that_eye_the_sky/

Schizophrenia is on the rise! According to new research by the Stanley Medical Institute mental illness has morphed into the 'invisible plague'. I have noted before that the words 'science' and 'schizophrenia' come from the same etymological routes – a mind fractured and split into pieces. Are we really turning slowly into a generation of mad scientists, a generation of Victor Frankensteins? Is scientific development proportional to rates of insanity? This is a rhetorical question as specific psychiatric illnesses are notoriously difficult to quantify. One such study however by ECA (Epidemiologic Catchment Area) suggests that schizophrenia has indeed become an epidemic effecting four million Americans (this is four times as many as HIV). This figure has increased ten fold over the last century and is still increasing. Calculations of this exact increase is complexified further by an estimation that 15% of those effected commit suicide. What indeed has information overload done to us?

http://www.schizophrenia.com/newsletter/allnews/2002/disordersincrease.htm