This video is the first installment of an art project I’ll be doing called The Disappearing of Julian Assange:

In my wallet, I keep a folded print-out of an image of Julian Assange. The photo was taken on October 27, 2021. It is blue, blurry and velvety soft, a photo of the cctv feed of the prisoner’s dock at the moment he suffered a stroke.

This is the last known image of Julian Assange.

The disappearing of the image of Julian Assange has been slowly taking place since he entered the Ecuadorian Embassy 13 years ago. Internally, he was the most surveilled person on the planet, but publicly, photos were rare.

And then, for the last three years, he has been held in a maximum security prison where the taking of images is strictly forbidden.

For me, the irony of the last known image of Julian Assange being of his brain mid-explosion is a powerful visual metaphor for how he himself, the idea of Julian Assange, Wikileaks, journalism, a free press, and all he stands for, is being surgically wiped from the public’s consciousness in a deliberate inducement of global aphasia.

This is censorship via amnesia.

This is the psychological disappearing of Julian Assange.

And this is why I carry this photo in my wallet. Because I refuse to forget.

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on FacebookTwitterSoundcloud or YouTube, throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon or Paypal, or buying an issue of my monthly zine. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.

Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2

Liked it? Take a second to support Caitlin Johnstone on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Trending