I don't know if it's the point of this piece, but this speaks to me a little. I've found one of the most bizarre things about living through times of struggle or danger is how isolated that danger can be. There can be armed conflict happening, and a few blocks away there can be no signs of it.

I haven't lives through war, but I felt some of this during the pandemic quarantine. I lived very close to a major civil disturbance at the time, and you wouldn't even know it if you didn't go looking for it. Go the other direction and it was business as usual.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

This is, at first glance, just an idyllic outdoor dinner scene. A man presides over the table, giving a toast. A decadent lobster feast attended by seemingly wealthy, privileged people. Then you turn your attention to the left, the chair is slightly upturned. Is it the occupant leaning, or is something pushing it upwards? The man in that disturbed chair, what does his armband signify?

There are red splotches on the toasting mans arm, and the lady in the sunhat's chest. This is from the sun shining through the wine glasses. But there's another bit of red, a dot underneath the far mans disturbed chair. What is the source of this redness? A warning light perhaps? The initial stage of an explosion?

Look at the woman in the pink dress, she's the only one who's attention is not on the toaster. What is she looking at?

An interesting piece.

As expressed by David Byrne

Doesn’t seem so bad.