The Big Bite – Esquire 2020

Robert Sammelin created this digital artwork, "The Big Bite – Esquire," in the 21st century. The image presents a series of juxtapositions that speak to the cultural landscape of our time. The presence of Black Panther, alongside figures evoking different aspects of black cultural and political life, situates the image within debates around representation and identity. The dinosaur, in turn, introduces a motif of existential threat, a narrative of precarity that could apply to social, environmental or technological anxieties. The digital medium itself reflects the acceleration of visual culture in the age of the internet. In order to understand this work, the historian would need to consider the traditions of political imagery, and the shifting discourses around race, technology and the future. They would have to research the context of magazine illustration and the changing role of visual media in contemporary life. Ultimately, this image invites us to reflect on the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and where we are headed.