Human
culture is shifting from material to immaterial. I am going to
suggest that this is related to man's fear of nature. This fear, has
got a pattern. It becomes more obvious in periods and areas with
scarce resources or under strain. Less apparent in groups of people
emerging from crisis. It manifests itself as an aversion to material
objects. This text will try to explain how this phenomenon
substantiates in the field of modern art and by comparing art with
other faces of culture, will make a case that the art world is
largely unaware of this condition.
Revolution
against Nature
Let’s
take a look into the Bible, the bestselling book of all time. What's
groundbreaking about the bible is that it provides its readers with a
new way of living. A way, rid of material pleasures and pains, a way
more economical and efficient. A common pattern throughout the Old
and New Testament is swapping the material with the immaterial. The
material is usually represented as evil and the immaterial as good.
The examples are many. In Genesis a world of plenty (Eden) is swapped
with a world of scarcity. The source of temptation is an animal. From
the very beginning there is an association of Nature with the
unattainable, but also an association of nature with evil(snake). A
counteract to man’s sense of futility upon confronting the natural
world.
In
Leviticus a manual for social operating (or God’s contract with
Israel if you prefer), there is a list of animals that are considered
unclean. In the Book Of Job, Leviathan, a crocodile (or hippo),
represents the darkness of the physical world. In Jonah, one of the
most popular tales, the hero is swallowed by a giant fish and
surviving the encounter with the animal provides the supernatural
core of the story.
“And
they shall no more offer their sacrifice unto devils… “
Leviticus
17:7
In
this particular verse, “devils” is a translation of the Hebrew
word sairrim which literally means wild goats.* In order to make the
swap from material to immaterial more effective, the editors of the
Bible (composing the Old Testament at around 400b.c.) borrowed a
concept from the Persians. Good and evil.
“…
the Persians had
become the dominant nation in Asia, and Persian thought would be
expected to be very influential among all nations which, like Judah,
were under Persian rule. Persian religion had just been systematized
by a great prophet, Zarathustra (Zoroaster), at about the time of the
return from Babylonian captivity, and the earth rang, so to speak,
with the new doctrine. Zoroastrianism offered a dualistic view of the
universe. There was a principle of good, Ahura-Mazda (or Ormuzd), and
a principle of evil, Ahriman, which were viewed as virtually
independent of each other and very nearly equal.”**
The
dualistic good-evil concept made life easier to explain and added an
element of excitement and drama in storytelling. Nowhere before 1
Chronicles
is Satan mentioned, but after that he regularly appears introducing
worldly vices to various characters, including Jesus Christ.
Text
by Teo Michael
Published
on the June 2011 issue of online art magazine kaput.gr
