Exorcism at the Tate: BP and the pollution of the arts

This occurred yesterday afternoon at the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London. Rev Billy and his "church" have been developing this kind of protest against various abuses of consumerism for the last five years or so. Combining street theatre with the discourse and imagery of gospel revivalist preaching and song, they encourage people to think about what our consumption is doing to our ecosystems, society and souls.

I would love to hear what people think of this as a form of creative protest. Is it effective? Distracting? Humourous? Counterproductive?

Shadows of the Divine: reminder

As mentioned back here, New College is hosting a free exhibition of artworks from the Methodist Church Art Collection and of a rare first edition King James Version printed in Scotland, to celebrate its 400th anniversary. The exhibition opens this weekend and you can find more information here.

Speaking of the KJV, Michael Jensen reflects on why we the anniversary of the King James Version is worth celebrating.

Shadows of the Divine: an exhibition

An exhibition at New College
To mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, this upcoming exhibition features works from the internationally renowned Methodist Church Art Collection - including pieces by Sutherland, Frink, Roualt, Eric Gill and Craigie Aitchison - alongside recent works by leading Scottish and Scottish-based artists and a rare first edition Scottish 1611 King James Bible. The Methodist Church Art Collection is the most significant denominational collection of art outside of the Vatican and of course the King James Version the most influential English translation of the holy scriptures in history.

The free exhibition will be hosted at New College in Edinburgh from 14th May to 11th June, Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm.
Crucified Tree Form by Theyre Lee-Elliott, 1959.

Banksy's crucifix

As we enter Christmastide, and the whole period between Christmas and Easter, Banksy helps us reflect on their connections. An image for further meditation.

How has the celebration of the coming of one who came to set us free become an occasion for enslavement to our desire to consume? Will we learn joyfully to embrace less in order to be truly rich?

There are only 365 shopping days until Christmas. Use them wisely.
H/T Ben. Ben also links to this annotated Bible, solving the riddle of what Christians ought to do with Santa Claus.

Going, going, gone?

Art losses "worse than expected", according to latest global report
The art world is reeling from fresh revelations of the extent and pace of a destructive fungal growth that has been afflicting galleries worldwide.

A new report gathering data from hundreds of smaller studies and national bodies has revealed that tens of thousands of priceless pieces are at risk; some have already disintegrated under the relentless mould attack. The report, known as the Global Art Outlook is not the first time attention has been drawn to this situation, but the authoritative publication offers a global picture of just how rapidly the mould is spreading, demonstrating the failure of government and private action to slow the infestation to date.

An agreement back in 2002 to slow the rate of artistic decline and preserve art treasures at a global, national and regional level has not been kept, according to the report. Curators estimate that without drastic action, somewhere between 30 and 70% of all artworks could be lost over the coming decades. Metallic and stone sculptures are slightly more resistant, but paintings have been decimated. Oil canvasses are particularly vulnerable, and many well-known masterpieces are showing signs of the dreaded mould. High profile campaigns have saved a few, but art lovers despair at maintaining sufficient public interest for the thousands upon thousands of lesser known works.

In a joint statement following the release of the report, the Directors and Chief Curators of twelve of the world's most iconic galleries, including the Louvre, MoMA and London's National Gallery, warned, "This is a wake up call to humanity. We need a new vision for preserving artistic diversity from this mould."

Critics of the report were quick to remind the public of "Pollockgate", the controversy over a 2005 study which claimed that the works of noted artist Jackson Pollock were on the brink of mouldy disintegration. This study was later retracted when it was discovered that the variegated blotchy patches associated with the infestation were actually part of his work.

The share price of major European tour companies took a hit this morning when it was revealed that even major galleries like the Uffizi or Louvre could suffer a sudden disintegration of most of their art. Google rallied 3% on the strength of its digital libraries.

But local art critics warned that reliance on virtual art would undermine preservation and restoration of originals. "Once these pieces are gone, they are gone forever. Yes, we'll have photos of them, and memories, and in some cases even copies, but the world will be a much poorer place without The Scream or the Sistine Chapel, without anything directly from the hand of Dali or Da Vinci."

Despite these warnings, much of the public remains ignorant, apathetic or even sceptical of the scale of the problem. A recent poll found that 94% of respondents could not distinguish a Klee from a Klimt, and 71% said there was too much media focus on art problems that affect only a small segment of the population. One man, interviewed outside the Scottish National Gallery this morning said, "I haven't seen any works distintegrate and the local art gallery still seems to be open, not that I've ever been. Who needs all these artworks anyway? It's just a few paintings, it's not the end of the world. And besides, what's so bad about a fungus? I like mushrooms. Don't we need mould to bread down compost and other waste organic matter?"

The full report can be read here, or you can find a Guardian article here.
Anyone still scratching their head should make sure they look at the report I have linked to (yes, I know it is large, and yes, I know it is not about art). If all else fails, read my next post.

Crucifix or cross?

This was an interesting debate. Make sure you also watch the video. I'd love to hear other reflections on this.

The story in brief: a church in England has removed a 45 year old large crucifix which had hung prominently on the exterior of its building and plan to replace it with a empty cross. The reasons? One negative: the crucifix was too scary, especially to children. One positive: the empty cross is a symbol of hope and resurrection.

The critics say that it is an attempt to sanitise the Christian message, to downplay the reality of human suffering and that only a suffering God can help (to quote Bonhoeffer). The supporters say that they are not removing the cross or denying its centrality, but affirming that the cross must be understood in the light of the resurrection. Jesus' redemptive suffering was not simply that God has entered into our pain and so knows it from the inside, but in the resurrection, has won a victory over it. The narrative of the good news about Jesus does not end with a cross. Thus, the symbol of an empty cross points beyond the moment of pain to that of vindication and so is an image of hope. While I think there is a place for images of Jesus' death and reflecting upon his suffering - and that of a crucified world - I also think that the empty cross is an important witness to the healing of the nations promised by the risen Christ.

But there is a second issue: that the crucifix, depicting Jesus obviously in excruciating* pain was a scary and off-putting image. In feedback from church members, all the comments about it were negative. While I'm with the previously mentioned argument for the theological import of the empty cross, here I think the church members just need to be better educated. "I don't like it" or "It makes me feel uncomfortable" are not sufficient reasons for turning our gaze away. Some images must be faced. The crucified Christ is an accusation. His very refusal to fight back, to vindicate himself, is an accusation against not only the violent oppression of the powerless, and not only against the human rejection of God, but also against our turning away from what makes us squirm. We love the darkness and run from the light. The dying Christ, though not accusing and not defending himself, is even an accusation against our self-righteous desire for moral self-preservation. His is the kind of accusation that wins over those who will lower their guard to look at him, who allow themselves to be scandalised at such an image but who move on to being scandalised at their own scandalisation. His accusation is that we spend too long accusing others or defending ourselves and do not simply accept God's verdict upon us. The God who says "no" to all our self-destructive self-obsession in order to "yes" to our very selves.
*Describing the cross as "excruciating" is as tautological as saying it is "crucial".

My sweet Lord

So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

- John 6.53 (NRSV)

A sculpture which was to be exhibited in Manhatten over Easter has been cancelled due to protests from Christians (BBC story here). The artwork depicts a life-sized naked Jesus with arms extended as though crucified (though without a cross) made entirely from chocolate. Appropriately, it is entitled 'My sweet Lord'.*
*I would include an image, but I suspect that would infringe copyright. Just go to the BBC site.

A comment quoted from the lead protester called the piece "an assault on Christians" and went on to say, "They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the Prophet Mohammed naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan."

Even if this were an assault on Christians, censorship is not the answer. We don't glorify God by forcefully silencing blasphemy. I have often received emails asking me to contribute to some protest (usually by adding my name to a worthless email petition) against some allegedly scandalous piece of art. I have always declined.

In fact, I think this attitude and approach demonstrates a shallow grasp of art, government and theology. Not only is a chocolate Jesus at Easter at least a mildly interesting comment on contemporary practices of Easter celebration, and not only are Christians not simply one more minority interest group amongst others (who need to stand up for our rights because no one else will), but the quote misses a crucial difference between Christianity and Islam.

Christians worship a Lord whose glory consists in his humble obedience. It was precisely because Jesus was obedient even to the point of a horrendous and shameful death that he received the name above every name, the divine name (Philippians 2.9-11). The pain and humiliation of the cross are therefore not to be hidden away, but consistute the crowning glory of Jesus' faithfulness. To display a naked and vulnerable Jesus, a frail, meltable, edible Jesus is to speak of Christ crucified - foolishness, yet God's wisdom.

The Lives of Others

Can people really change?

Last night, Jessica and I went to see an excellent new(-ish) German film called The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen). Set in East Germany (GDR) in 1984, the film follows a loyal playwright and his surveillance by the feared secret police, the Stasi (State Security). It has been estimated that by the time the wall came down in 1989, the Stasi had 91,000 full-time employees and somewhere around 200,000 to 300,000 civilian informants (by comparison, Hitler's Germany had 30,000 Gestapo officers for the entire country). The Stasi's stated aim: "to know everything" - Bentham's Panopticon achieved on a state level. Having recently re-read Yevgeny Zamyatin's original dystopia We (the inspiration for Nineteen eighty-four, Brave New World (though Huxley denied it) and through them, the entire modern genre of dystopias), The Lives of Others resonated powerfully with familiar themes of individuality and conformity, the subversive and liberating role of art, and the question of the possibility and ethics of symbolic resistance.

The film was also a very moving portrayal of the unusual relationship that develops when one begins watching the lives of others. A political thriller with emotional intelligence, the film asks the question: "Can people really change?"

Even if you haven't seen the film (and if you have, don't give anything away, for the sake of all those who ought to go and see it), what do you think: can people really change?

The Mini MEme

Having only just realised that I've been tagged, here is my contribution to Rachel's mini MEme. For all these questions, there could be many answers; I've picked the first ones to jump to mind today.

A Piece of Art that you Love
Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (and this one). I could have kept wandering and wandering in this enormous public sculpture. Very moving: enormous, dramatic and yet understated at the same time.

A Line in a Song or Line of Poetry that Reaches Your Core
I will show you fear in a handful of dust - from T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land. I remember coming across Eliot in year 11 and he was probably the decisive factor in 'converting' me to love English. Until that point, I'd always avoided humanities. Now, I barely remember all the maths I used to do...

An Experience in Nature that was Really Special and/or Spiritual
The heavens on a glorious Sydney day.

The Movie that Changed the Way you saw the World.
Atarnarjuat: The Fast Runner - I will never look at snow the same way again. Seriously, this was a fantastic movie, unlike anything you've seen and was the first full-length film made by, about and in the language of the Inuit people of the Arctic circle. See also here.

A Piece of Music That Makes You Cry
Wake up dead man - U2. The eschatology of U2 deserves its own series. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Drew has already beaten me to it! Enjoy the series as it progresses.

I tag Beeston, Frank, MartyK, David, Cynthia, Rob, Patrik and Christopher. I've tried to tag different people to last time. I've also done more tagging of people I've only met over blogs. Hope you don't feel I'm rushing the friendship...