Photo Credit: AFP/File/Ronaldo Schemidt
This weekend, Bill Gates outlined his vision for the next digital decade at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The projection of Gate's image juxtaposed against his normal stature suggests that pictures visually prop up the rhetoric. Pictures now take on the role of the exclamation mark prevalent in text. Gates' image, seemingly several stories tall, commands our attention -- it says "look here" this is important.
In a world of techno-theater showmanship -- a world where announcements of new technologies often trump other news -- the relationship between signifier and what is signified becomes emphatic.
It is hard to ignore Bill Gates' promise that "technology will make our lives richer, more connected, more productive and more fulfilling in profound and exciting ways.” At the same time, there is always a feeling that much of the drive toward technological innovative in driven by making money for shareholders.
Larger-than-life images used to project a speaker's presence serves the immediate purpose of letting a large audience see the presenter. However, when redacted to a still image, the picture fulfills a second purpose -- one that amplifies and magnifies the significance and relevance of the event.