The Treachery Of Images (18 images)

The Treachery of Images

Two trains of thought inform this work.

The first is the choice of the words of people who left us thousands of years ago as guides to modern spirituality, and their inability to engage in a dialogue with us to agree with or dispute our interpretations. Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha; how often would they say "You've got it all wrong!" In the case of Jesus, the gospels were written after his death by third parties, translated several times...
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The Treachery of Images

Two trains of thought inform this work.

The first is the choice of the words of people who left us thousands of years ago as guides to modern spirituality, and their inability to engage in a dialogue with us to agree with or dispute our interpretations. Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha; how often would they say "You've got it all wrong!" In the case of Jesus, the gospels were written after his death by third parties, translated several times and re-interpreted many times over. Everyone seems to have projected their own beliefs on him as convenience dictated, as well as their vision of what he looked like, as no contemporary images exist.

The second is "The Treachery Of Images", as Magritte said. The photograph is not the thing depicted. People who show us a photograph of their Aunt Margaret say "This is my Aunt Margaret", while it is actually a photograph of their Aunt Margaret and might not represent the current Aunt Margaret at all. So it is with these photographs; while the images are all recognizable as depictions of Jesus, they are all quite different and are, in fact, photographs of small figurines depicting Jesus, with heads ranging in size from the end of my little figure to the size of my thumb. They are at least two degrees of separation away from Jesus (figurine, photograph), and represent different people's projections of self on him. What did he really look like? I guess whatever we want.
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