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mtraven's avatar

Revelatory typo: "incoporeal" – which I guess reflects how police are the embodiment of authority

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Michael Taft's avatar

Awesome article, Erik. I can't read about the power of the negative octopus image in political art without taking a tour through the peri-natal matrix work of Stanislav Grof. One time when I was working with him on a publishing project, we were standing in a big work space in the art department, talking about the cover for his work. As part of the conversation, he busted out his powerpoint slide deck on this topic (very specifically the use of octopuses as a negative symbol in political art) and began giving an impromptu talk. Eventually, everyone in the art department was crowded around this one screen, totally fascinated.

He related the strange, magnetic power of these images to upset and disgust us (Why do pictures of octopuses seem sinister?) to negative experiences some infants experience in what he calls the third stage of the Basic Perinatal Matrix (BPM III), which include accidental strangulation with the umbilical cord, etc. Grof says that the trauma of such birth experiences is unresolved in people, and some images (such as octopuses) trigger this trauma.

In any case, not saying I buy the theory, but couldn't resist sharing here.

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