Words are Weeds

When I first noticed Scenes from Hell in the May 21st issue of The Nation, at first I couldn't quite place it. The name Lynn Randolph was very familiar, as was the style of the image, but it took me a few minutes. That shows just how out of it I am, because of course Randolph's paintings are an integral part of Donna Haraway's work. As she says about Randolph, Haraway's writing has "infiltrate(d) the fibers of my flesh and spirit," though perhaps at this particular point in my life the symbiosis of Haraway's writing and my thoughts have reached a stage that it's not so much about vivid impressions, but that the writing has insinuated itself into me, leaving little ghostly traces everywhere. (Or so I'd like to think.)

Anyway, for many years Haraway has incorporated Randolph's paintings into her books and articles not merely as illustrations, but as part of her arguments about technoscience and culture. As Haraway explains, their collaboration began when Randolph created the painting Cyborg in response to Haraway's 1985 essay "Manifesto for Cyborgs." I must have at least ten copies of that essay in my library because it is reprinted everywhere, particularly in anthologies on feminism and cultural studies of science. I assume the essay still is widely read, though I hope that means it leads to reading Haraway's other work, in which she reworks themes from her cyborg manifesto through other metaphoric boundary figures such as chimpanzees, vampires and dogs. The essay is available online as well and if you follow the link you can also see the Randolph painting.

As Haraway says in Millennial Myths: Paintings by Lynn Randolph, she appreciates Randolph's works for their "metaphoric realism" and observes that "I have found ourselves joined in a common project that is at once analytic, spiritual, metaphoric and narrative" (24). Randolph's works are apocalyptic in nature, focus on "hope and suffering," and often feature angels who "protect, announce and incite" (26). For me Scenes from Hell called to mind Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, which I've been lucky enough to see at the Prado in Madrid. (The best image I could find on the Web is here. Click on the smaller image and a new window will pop up with the larger one that shows the work in more detail, though nowhere near the actual scale.) Given Randolph's interest in cyborgs and other boundary creatures, maybe it's inappropriate to connect her work to Bosch's work, which follows the traditional narrative of the Fall of Man, ending, of course, in damnation. In that case, in thinking about the connection to Bosch, in part it's about the impact of vivid images, but also about the contrast between Heaven and Hell. In Scenes from Hell there certainly is suffering, but maybe not hope and there are no angels who "protect, announce and incite."

So what do we have in Scenes from Hell? The devils are Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez and Donald Rumsfeld, either observing or actively inflicting suffering over scenes of Guantanamo, Katrina and wounded veterans. Devil Karl Rove, playing a horn, heralds these scenes of great suffering. But the devils' victims--prisoners, veterans, the people of New Orleans--are not at the center of the image. The most prominent figure is George Bush, riding a hyena with blood dripping from its fangs, goaded by a devil figure that is not Cheney or Gonzalez or Rumsfeld or even Rove. There is a gushing wound in his chest. Bush is not exactly innocent, but he isn't the Decider, either. I don't believe in redemption, especially for this crew, but what about the angels? Will they ever make an appearance?

My friend Laura Sells has created a Donna Haraway page that includes bibliographies, "fun facts" and more information on Lynn Randolph.