Religion and art. Confrontation and interaction

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Why naked Jesus - not blasphemy. As a religion and contemporary art influence each other. And as a work of modern art are transformed into sacred "relics" of superheroes. Essays under the heading "Opinions».

The case number 1

June 7, 2011 in Manila, capital of the Philippines, an exhibition by local artist Meade Cruise's "Polytheism". The scandal erupted around her on the grounds of religion. Especially famous by a poster exhibition depicting Jesus Christ, to the person who was attached to a wooden penis. The rest of the exhibits also represented a very profane objects, such as, for example, the crucifix with attached red penis that can be moved up and down. It has even come to the point that there was an attempt to destroy some of the work of the artist. As a result, the numerous requests of believers, the decree of the President of the exhibition was closed. Cruz himself - has been bombarded with angry messages Christians, some of them even wanted him dead, and neither more nor less promised to deal with it.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cruise, he does not aim to offend anyone, but merely trying to draw attention to the problem of idolatry in all its forms. Since idols are not only man-made. The artist said the idea of ​​the exhibition as follows: "It speaks about objects that we worship, how to create these gods and idols, and how we in turn create our gods and idols." But the idea of ​​the artist did not understand a Filipino Catholics, not the president (who by his commentary on the exhibition on human rights and could not really explain anything) nor former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

The case number 2

April 19, 2011 in the French Avignon, was an accomplished attack by a group of Catholics in the exposition "I believe in miracles", which was held at a local center for contemporary art. The attack was broken work of American photographer Andreas Serrano «Immersion. Piss Christ ».

This work was considered blasphemous Catholics, for the reason that the photo shows a statue of the crucifixion, lost in the urine author. What does the mayor was on the side of the artist. Since France blasphemy is not a crime.

In protest against the exhibition were seen both Catholics and Orthodox. But there is a hardly noticeable detail that almost do not pay attention - Serrano himself belongs to the Catholic Church. The artist believes that his work can not be blasphemy, he says that he does not destroy the old icons, but creates new ones.

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More events

Many of us make a lot of noise to recall the Moscow exhibition "Caution: Religion!", Held in 2003 in the building of the Sakharov Museum. In a press release, the concept of the show was clearly stated and understood. Quote: "The name of the exhibition conveys a distinct duality of its design: it is a call for the careful, delicate, respectful attitude to religion, faith, religious people, and the sign -" caution, danger! "- When it comes to religious fundamentalism (whether he is a Muslim or Orthodox), fusion of religion and the state, obscurantism. " The exhibition was destroyed Orthodox fanatic fundamentalists.

 Another incident. In March 2007, one of the galleries of New York under the pressure of the believers not display a chocolate sculpture depicting a naked Jesus. The work has been hailed as disrespectful toward Christianity. On production of this sculpture from the artist Cosimo Kavalyaro took about eighty pounds of chocolate.

Known story of the last year's July issue of the Portuguese magazine Playboy, the cover of which was a photograph of Jesus, embracing the girl whose body is covered with tattoos. Also in the room was a photograph in which Jesus was watching two girls having sex. Editorial explained this act tribute to the Portuguese Nobel laureate in literature - José Saramago, known for its anti-clerical works and remarks against Christianity.

But the vice-president of Playboy Theresa Hennessey demanded to change the cover numbers, otherwise it will terminate the contract with the Portuguese publisher because of the numbers do not match the generally accepted standards.

Finally, one can think of the scandal surrounding the Spanish photographer Fernando Bayona, depicting Jesus in his works in the form of a gay man born of a prostitute and having sex with Mary Magdalene before becoming a homosexual.

Blasphemy and sex

The so-called "sexual revolution" in the West sooner or later had to touch this forbidden fruit. Namely - the connection with the numinous sexuality. As a result, the artist often consciously and unconsciously part (regardless of the ideas for their projects) raised a number of questions: Can God be sexy? Can be placed in a sacred sexual context? Sexuality can be a way of knowledge of God? Etc. etc ...

These questions are not new. And they are not only staged, but also translated into reality, as in paganism, and in the early Gnostic sects.

And once we started talking about it a sin not to remember that in ancient Babylon, Greece, India, practiced in temples or sacred cult prostitution, which was later branded by Christians as one of the manifestations of sin. Although in Babylon were clearly separated concepts such as prostitutes and temple prostitutes.

In ancient pagan religions sex was sacred, and sex with the goddess, which was part of the body of the priestess-hieroduly (in Greece) was an integral part of the mysteries of initiation into the cult. The same thing happened in Babylon, where dedicated for one night became a ritual husband of the goddess Ishtar. And sex was not the end, but a means of expanding and comprehend the mysteries of consciousness.

Pondering this question, I decided to turn to Jungian analytical psychology. Which is peculiar to look at God as the embodiment of the self and the center of the Anthropos, eyes, dogmas of opposites religious corporations. The self can be viewed in different ways - and as a god, and in a neutral manner - as the center of the psychic in person. It all depends on what position to approach the issue.

Self is the same as the center of the mental life of the individual in the world religions represented in the form of a god, and hierophany (meeting with the deity), that is, union with one's self, is the central event in the life of man. After which the person is transformed, and after that he will never be the same again. He knows himself. He is the god that he is.

In the essay "The Man mystical" Erich Neumann describes the process as a meeting hierophany ego with the non-ego: "During the meeting with the Divine is the transformation (transformation); it occurs in a person who is a deity, but it also includes the Deity itself. Both poles, which we refer to as mystical - ego, exactly like the non-ego - are transformed in the process, in which the line separating them is destroyed on both sides. "

As for blasphemy in particular, the way Richard Dawkins once said, if there are people who can offend, the blasphemy - a crime without victims. Simply put, blasphemy - this is the most ridiculous charge that could bring the artists whose works are causing massive resentment of the faithful. These artists do not impinge on the idea of ​​God as a psychological comfort zone of believers. Who do not bother to deep thoughts about what the artist and go and destroy the installation. Such antics show that in our "civilized" religious, scientific or political ideologies are deeply hidden animal instincts of hatred against dissenters.

And whatever it was, but Jesus has long been a character in pop culture, taking its place alongside with Spiderman, Batman, Terminator and other superheroes who supposedly modern gods heard by the fate of the world is not worse than the protagonist of the New Testament - at least in the films. And this is not surprising. Since modern superheroes, like the stars of show business - Madonna and Marilyn Manson, not only cause no less admiration for his exploits, but also become objects of veneration and imitation.

Modern Christianity is having a creed, Canon, Catechism, God, and the very symbol (or trademark, as someone more like it) of their religion - is no different from corporations such as Warner Brothers, Apple or Microsoft. Unauthorized use of symbols which can lead to endless lawsuits, and in the end - astronomical fines. But with the religion's all a bit different. There are other methods of prevention of violations and penalties.

Attempts to strip everything and everyone - is an understandable reaction to centuries of bigotry and Manichaeism. Since nudity sells better and easier for him to get attention. This constant sexual exploitation of subjects, most of all, can serve as compensation lostness of modern man, who is unable to find himself. Sex reduced to a primitive level of commercial moves. I would like to recall the words of the director Alessandro Jodorowsky, who said that when pornography and there was more of an underground, it was very interesting, but when it becomes an all-out and boring, the need for it anymore.

New heirlooms, money and death

Modern religion, as well as contemporary art, with all the differences between them, have a lot in common. Even too much. You just need to dig a little deeper. Artists also used in his work as a metaphor for religious symbols metaphors. At what should not be forgotten that any of the characters - are also a metaphor that are constantly changing, and are involved in the new discourses, contexts, and new meanings.

Religious artifact - a symbol, an object of force for the believer. Just like a work of art - an artifact of "believer" in the capital (of course, this is not about faith in money, and the cult of consumerism). Art odds today in private collections as well as the Christian relics dispersed in private collections in the Middle Ages. And like an artifact of faith looking for proof of God's revelation, so also today, looking at the object of art of the same revelation, only financial. And god, art and money have always been intertwined. The whole history of art can serve as a proof of that.

 The point of intersection of religion and contemporary art in the world today is on the cult of the personality of Jesus. And in both cases, as a symbol of Jesus - not as a person. He exists as such in the minds of as a work of the cult of personality, and not a real being. That's why we have a lot of very, Jesus, who, of course, do not fit into the canon, because, in the opinion of the hierarchs of the Church, "profane" works of art have nothing to do with the "sacred" being. That being, that Christians have created for yourself and do not let him no one who could say something new.

Jesus - a work of art from the very beginning. The story of the wise teacher would anyone not interested, but the image of Jesus as a god immediately gained many adherents. And although in those days there was no image makers and PR, but with these duties perfectly mastered the apostles and preachers.

One of the most famous works by Damien Hirst - "For the Love of God", which is a platinum skull encrusted with diamonds, is considered the most expensive work of art acquired for $ 100 million. Hurst, who has positioned himself as a hard-core atheist, in his works only works with one theme - death. And holiness is a new religion - which, in his opinion, is a science. And that's what the world's most expensive artist works with the theme of death is very symbolic. Death and money - not to find the best symbols of capitalism and an example of symbolic exchange. Paintings, installations Hirst encrusted with diamonds and a multi-colored skull - all focused on the theme of death, and all this without too much exaggeration, be called contemporary sacred relics. A contemporary galleries will go well beyond the temples of worship "sacred" relics. Where are flocking more and more pilgrims.

Theme of death remains popular even for the reason that it aestheticized in pop culture in vivid images and colors. In contrast, conventional black tones. In turn, the death is expelled from itself, and this process can be interpreted in two ways:

1. How desacralization of death, which is not displaced to the periphery of the Logos, but rather, is integrated into the product. As well as sacred relics, fashion fetishes death deprived the context of death as death and turn into fetishes as objects similarity of religious belief in eternal life, based on the cult of consumption.

2. As the exposure of death as the end of everything. Death appears as one of the stages of life here, and it is used as a transition to a future life.

The secular cult of death in the long run does not differ from the Christian worship. The basis and that, and the other - a single mythological thinking and unified collective subconscious, the manifestations of which are gained in various aspects at the level of religious and pop culture. Which places practically merged into one.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the image of Jesus in contemporary art will be repeatedly changed, just as varied themes of ancient mythologies. And modern art, becoming an integral part of modern pop culture, will create a completely new character, completing yet another metamorphosis appearance of Jesus and indeed the idea of ​​dying and reviving god. Whose image embodies the metamorphosis of searching new alternatives to existing ancient religions. However, today, in this alternative, there is no need, since the development of mankind, free from fundamentalism, may well abandon the idea of ​​an anthropomorphic deity and come to the abandonment of any god. And the realization that the universe is a great, perfect and inexplicable than can be said about any religion and even science.

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