Black Mirrors: An Introduction
What is a Black Mirror?
This is what wikipedia has to say about the matter:
A Claude glass (or Black Mirror) is a small mirror, slightly convex in shape, with its surface tinted a dark colour. Carried in the hand, black mirrors were used by artists, travelers and connoisseurs of landscape painting.Black Mirrors have the effect of abstracting the subject reflected in it from its surroundings, reducing and simplifying the colour and tonal range of scenes and scenery in an effort to give them a painterly quality. Black Mirrors were widely used by artists in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a frame for drawing sketches of picturesque landscapes. The user would turn his back on the scene to observe the framed view through the tinted mirror. This process added the picturesque aesthetic of a subtle gradation of tones.
Black Mirrors were widely used by tourists and amateur artists, who quickly became the targets of satire. Hugh Sykes Davies observed of their facing away from the object they wished to paint, commenting: "It is very typical of their attitude to Nature that such a position should be desirable".
Imagine it. There was a point in our history where thousands of painters faced AWAY from the inspiration that they were painting. Dissatisfied with life’s true colors, they employed a shoddy piece of technology that magically made their surroundings appear prettier than they truly were.
A hundred years have passed since that heyday....but sometimes I wonder...does Southeast Michigan have its own black mirrors? As a region, do we own a set of concrete and complex issues that we collectively turn our backs towards...or over-simplify in an attempt to fit them into pretty little boxes?
Let’s start talking. Let’s open a dialogue. I’ll speak straight from the heart if you do the same. Positive or negative. Hopeful or despondent. Relaxed or frustrated. I don’t care what your past experiences are with this region. I just want to hear your opinions. And your stories.What's our biggest black mirror?
Labels: Employee Voices, The Black Mirror Diaries
posted by Suneil Singh at
2:44 PM
8 Comments:
This is very well written and does address an impt issue. It seems like everyone in SE Michigan is ready to look on this area as hopeless and ready to move on, afraid to look at the issues and confront them. It is easy to run away for greenier pastures but it takes a stronger person to fight the fight as an underdog...
I think the fight begins by trying to get younger people to stay in michigan instead of getting degrees and getting out of here..
By
Anonymous, at 7:03 PM
Our black mirror is race relations. Nobody ever talks about that elephant.
By
Anonymous, at 8:43 PM
Great states like Michigan and Louisiana have been marginalized by the biggest of black mirrors which IS our collective federal government. Until people are wise enough to learn the facts, stand-up and become proactive about U.S. foreign relations, then places like Michigan are doomed.
The auto-industry has already abandoned Michigan. The current administration pays little mind as they focus on the futile war on terror, the state government is running out of thumbs to plug the holes in the dam and the educational system continues to underserve our children.
If you want to save Michigan, we'll need a politically active/motivated population to challenge the federal government back into our lives. Otherwise, tell the last person out to turn off the lights.
By
Anonymous, at 9:56 PM
This is a great topic for discussion as I believe people all have different opionions about the current situation and the future of our area.
If we are discussing the city of Detroit I feel that we are still trying to get past the racial segregation that we see in our surrounding communities. While things are improving as the younger more educated generation begins to progress into adulthood, many of our peers are still holding onto perceptions that have been engrained in them by their parents.
As a Detroit resident I also see two types of people that live in the downtown communities. These people are either "the pie in the sky, everything in Detroit is fantastic" or "the Detroit sucks and I am leaving crowd". I tend to fall in between, believing that there is a great deal of room for improvement; however; I would rather live in Detroit than any of the Burbs.
Just a few thoughts.
By
BC, at 1:19 PM
I truly believe that until we can get past the whole "us vs. them" mentality (city vs. suburbs, black vs. white - which is my book is too often made into the same argument), none of us are going to make progress. But I am at a loss as to how to even begin to make folks understand that we are all in this together. I'd like to hear what others have to say about potential solutions.
By
Ursula, at 1:55 PM
For me, the biggest black mirror is the way we encapsulate ourselves in our individual communities in the metro Detroit area. I live in Troy, and almost never head over to Grosse Pointe or Hamtramck. I don't have a clue as to what's happening in Southfield or South Lyon. Most of what I need is right here in my small city, and the Detroit area is filled with these self-sustaining communities.
The problem with this is that my world is much narrower because of this arrangement. One way I'm trying to solve this: I'm beginning to use more public transportation. I think this helps to get me out into more communities. I learned to use public transport when I lived in Tokyo. It was amazing how much I learned about the vast city of Tokyo by just riding the buses and trains!
By
Peggy Brennan, at 12:35 PM
I like the idea, Peggy, of getting out on public transportation. We have a coworker in IT that takes the bus to work every day for that very reason - to experience more of the cities he never sees.
Another favorite pass time of mine, getting lost, accomplishes much of the same. Sounds silly, but if I'm not in a rush to get home, I'll purposely get lost on the way home - take an exit that I don't usually take, wind my way through neighborhoods I don't normally travel - just to see where I end up. I've made some great discoveries in southwest Detroit this way.
As a bonus, I know all the best ways to get to and from home now in the event that some major freeway is closed.
By
Ursula, at 1:23 PM
I believe that Detroit would benefit greatly from more public transportation, especially if there was a railway from the suburbs that are farther West, such as Ann Arbor. But that won't help the utter hopelessness that has basically consumed many of Detroit's poorer residents (who often resort to crime and gang-related activity).
People who visit Detroit are scared off by stories of going too far outside of the entertainment area around the Fox and so forth, and running into a bad situation. I feel that Detroit's age is working against it in many cases, where several neighborhoods are in severe need of large-scale renovations and new construction...this is what scares people away from venturing outside of their comfort zone. But these efforts require money, and that remains to be a problem with companies moving out of the area and a struggling auto industry.
As a result, many visitors miss out on several very interesting and fun parts of Detroit that are never visited. There are many community organizations working hard on neighborhood improvement, and I would strongly recommend at least getting involved with one of these organizations (like Motor City Blight Busters, www.blightbusters.org). These problems might not be solved in our lifetime, but we can at least do our best to make a change while we are around.
By
Brady, at 9:19 AM
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