I would suggest to possibly include more detail on ethnographic details of life in Delhi - who are the people living in the particular hotspots and other zones that are mapped? What are their experiences of pollution? What are the different political groups living within the indicated borders?
I think the caption could be elaborated to include more information about the consequences of the toxic sewage in the river, and also on the religious function of the river.
As someone who isn't familiar with Los Angeles County, is there more context that could be built around the specific neighbourhoods mentioned in the caption?
Bien a verga is translated by google as "shit-faced." There is obviously a commentary in this triptych about sexual potency and alcoholism, but I'm also strangely curious about the critical distinction between shit-faced and dick-head in this artist's critique of masculinity. I'm curious about the reception of this triptych by other viewers. Who is it aimed to? How is it distributed? Does it speak to (some) women's experience, and in what ways.
I think it would help to create a more direct connection between the caption and the image. Both are very heavy with theoretical potential, but there needs to be a greater synchrosity between them. In addition, the toxicity of the place itself could use further explanation. Where is this in Washington, D.C.? Why is this particular space significant for exploring toxicity?
The caption for Image #2 is fully realized.
The caption for Image #1 is brief and direct. It is dependent on the larger essay for full meaning. The caption raises questions for me. It presents the image as a starting point, an invitation to an archive. When I look at the image, I see florescent lighting, long, dark narrow aisles and an excess of boxes--closed, sorted, infused with meaning--to be investigated. Perhaps, for an archivist this is an idyllic place, but I sense a toxic environment present in this image. I realize a different, deeper, meaning of toxic is invoked in this essay, still I think it would support the analysis further if the starting place for our understanding of archive is also made more nuanced.
To be honest, I struggled with the caption. It is short and descriptive. While I previously mention relationships between populations being classified as 'pollutants' thereby there marginalisation framing the 'liveability' of a city I feel like I am imposing a reading of the image and caption . The caption could really do with some reflexive writing to link it to discussions/debates about population, racialised liveability measurements, urban placemaking, pollution, and toxicity. While the image has text about climate action I cannot it is difficult to connect up with the rest of the image.
Perhaps the caption could give us more insight, if it has been established, how the plastic refuse got there? Is it refuse dumped elsewhere that is pushed out with the tides? Is it a factor of increased human activity in the mangrove forests?
On a different note, is sand mining an issue in the region?
The caption could be elaborated to comment more on how this image connects to current forms of data available about toxicity in Los Angeles— does updated TRI data show the ongoing reconfigurations of emissions and industry relative to environmental activism since 1990? Which forms of chemical toxicants and industries were not yet added to the TRI at this point in time, thereby making this map perhaps even an underestimation of uneven exposures at the time?
The caption can be elaborated to include more specific information about how the author is tying colonialism to a discussion of PM 2.5, as this seems to be an important part of why they chose this image. More clarity can also be offered around the positionality of NGOs such as the Lung Care Foundation, and the impact campaigns such as this may or may not have on forms of environmental justice activism, especially in terms of how it may impact particular groups rather than others.
I am also curious to hear more about the actual Diwali celebrations and the forms which fireworks take- where are they set off, how many, what is the resultant impact for PM levels compared to “typical” levels in Delhi, which are also very high?