02/22 Cohn’s Visual Rhetoric Terms (Attendance)

What had me particularly drawn to this image of the riot at the US capitol earlier this year was the dim and ‘post-apocalyptic’ lighting and color palette. This perfectly illustrates the true nature of this event and contrasts perfectly with the right wing idea of America being God’s country when they have created a space that is clearly far from divinity. While preaching Christian-values to a nation that intentionally works to separate church and state, it seems like a bit of dramatic irony that these extreme Trump supporters have chosen to create an environment of hate in an effort to spike fear in their neighbor. In this image we can clearly see that dreary and dystopian space that was created with intent. The architecture of the capitol building invokes a feeling of peace and beauty when it stands alone without disruption. The arches and domes round out the intense parallel structures between them as if to demonstrate how two opposite shapes can come together to create a building that is strong and sturdy. However the difference between the peaceful capitol and the disunited alignment of the rioters creates, again, an intense contrast between the two that was never even imagined as a possibility for the state of this country until the last four years.