circle of confusion

in optics, a circle of confusion is an optical spot caused by a cone of light rays from a lens
not coming to a perfect focus when imaging a point source. it is also known as disk of
confusion, circle of indistinctness, or blur circle.

with the aperture of a lens wide open, like the iris of a human eye open wide in the night,
there is very little depth of field and points of light outside this plane of focus fall into soft
and overlapping fields of indistinction. these collections of swirling images, captured deeply
out of focus, comment on the super abundance of branded images found in and around times
square in new york city, a fulcrum both of light and of abundance.

such abundance causes a paralysis of reason; the ability to think clearly and decisively is compromised.

“turning and turning in the widening gyre
the falcon cannot hear the falconer;
things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
from the second coming | william butler yeats