Figure 1 – Alien Lovers. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

There is this gift shop in the local mall that frankly sells schlock. At the outset, I predicted its demise. But it was in their window that I photographed “cube man,” a while back. And this week, days before it closed for good, I took the image of Figure 1, which I entitle Alien Lovers.

It is a time to consider what it means to call someone “alien.” It is to render them faceless and make them “other,” that is to despise them. These two faceless figures are reminiscent of the mannequin army that I have spoken of before. And we know from The Twilight Zone “After Hours” episode that these, in contradiction of their being inanimate and non human, come to life at night when the store closes. By making them faceless, we can be inhumane to them.

But here the affection gestures of the lovers defies their alien name. They reclaim their humanity. Any similarity between this blog and current events is purely intentional.