The walker in the city sees many things and understandsfew of them. Snatches of conversation, glimpses of hap-penings, intuitions of relations pass in kaleidoscopic varia-tion. Amidst this cascade of mostly trivial experiencesthere are a few gems, moments of significance thatdeserve to be remembered or perhaps photographed.The significant moments are signalled by a shock, theshock of the unexpected or bizarre or profound.
Shock appears in the writings of the culture critic WalterBenjamin as an essential category of modern life. The cityis the place of chance encounter, of the stimulus of thenew, of the visible movement of time as fashions changewith startling rapidity. With Baudelaire as his guide,Benjamin explores the world of the flaneur. Shock is theemphatic presence of the crowd, the sudden glance ofrecognition between strangers, the vacant lot where usedto be a building, the parade of bums and beggars.
The flaneur with a camera can record a small sample ofthis rich field of urban life. The photographer edits reali-ty, leaving context on the cutting room floor. Only theessential moment remains, and it is often as incompre-hensible as it is evocative. If its original shock value pass-es through the lens something is preserved from theephemera of the street. This exhibit presents the enig-matic results.
Enigmas
Photographs by Andrew Feenberg
Painter Painted
Paris
1enigmas Andrew Feenberg
2 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Hidden Beauty
San Jose
3 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Blue Buddha
Santa Fe
Buddha Watches La Jolla
4 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
5enigmas Andrew Feenberg
California
Reading
San Diego
6 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Before
the Show
Paris
7enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Pride on Show
Paris
8 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Dance of Color
San Diego
9enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Cafe Color
Paris
10 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Line of Sight
Rome
11enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Steady Aim Nara
12 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Long and
Winding
Marin
13enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Big Deal Santa Fe
14 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Father and Daughter Napa
Saudade
Paris
15enigmas Andrew Feenberg
16 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Flying Fish
La Jolla
17enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Shut Out
Mexico City
18 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Sweet Dreams
Paris
19enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Light and Shadow La Jolla
20 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
PatienceSan Diego
21enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Kenzo
Paris
22 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Wedding
Coronado
No Stopping
San Jose
23enigmas Andrew Feenberg
24 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Notre Dame Paris
25enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Romance
La Jolla
26 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Before the Concert Tokyo
27enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Hands Paris
28 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
The Point
La jolla
29enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Writ Large
Paris
30 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Larger Paris
31enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Masks
Paris
32 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Eclipse
Paris
33enigmas Andrew Feenberg
A-paco-lypse
Paris
34 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
The ConstantSpectator
Paris
35enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Cine Citta
Rome
36 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
The Powerof Art
Tokyo
37enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Success
Tokyo
38 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Anima
Paris
39enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Girl Power
Tokyo
40 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Little Devils
Paris
41enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Mc Do
Kyoto
42 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Nude
Paris
43enigmas Andrew Feenberg
The Apero
Vaison-la-Romaine
44 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Drinking Buddies
La Jolla
45enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Boshi
Tokyo
46 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Kimono Time
Tokyo
47enigmas Andrew Feenberg
So Lovely
Tokyo
48 enigmas Andrew Feenberg
The Guys
Tokyo
49enigmas Andrew Feenberg
Book End
La Jolla
The enigmas exhibit opened February 3, 2005
at the Exposure Gallery851 beatty street, Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada.
Andrew Feenberg is Canada Research Chair in the Philosophyof Technology in the School of Communication of SimonFraser University. He has taught at San Diego State University, the University of California, Irvine, the University of Paris, the University of Tokyo, Duke University and the StateUniversity of New York at Buffalo.
He is the author of Heidegger and Marcuse, TransformingTechnology, Questioning Technology, Alternative Modernity,Lukács, Marx and the Sources of Critical Theory, co-author ofWhen Poetry Ruled the Streets, and co-editor of Technology andthe Politics of Knowledge, Community in the Digital Age, andModernity and Technology. He lives in Vancouver, BritishColumbia and La Jolla, California.