Archive for February, 2008
“Tefillin Barbie”
February 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Quoth Jen Taylor Friedman of geniza.net. “As of June 1 2007, a Mattel Barbie with tallit, tefillin and gemara is $130. Torah scrolls are an additional $40 … There is only one of me, and I do many things besides making Barbie accessories, so your commission may take a month or two. If you need it for a particular date, let me know and I’ll do my best to accommodate you, cos I’m nice, but no promises.”
Read all about it here.
Interview: Aisha La’Don Epps-Abdul Rahman
February 28th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Aisha La’Don Epps-Abdul Rahman currently resides with her husband and three children in Sacramento California. As a homeschooling mother of three, she dedicates her time to providing ongoing support and advice to women in order to assist them in living a purpose filled life. She is currently working on an online network for Muslim women, muminah.net, as well as writing a women’s Hadith handbook.
She enjoys reading, writing, graphic and web design, and of course spending time with her family and friends, and learning more and more each day.
I asked Aisha about the importance of art in her life, art and Islamic law, and how, if at all, art carries gender implications in Islam. Here are her replies. (Image: courtesy of Aisha La’Don, and see her article “The Role History & Religion Play in Art.”)
Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem
Assalamu Alaikum,
I don’t believe that there are any preferences when it comes to Islamic art, nor any expectations as far as who should do what art. Many women have taken the hobby of doing Henna as a hobby as well as professionally. Men do not take this art on more than likely due to the physical contact that is required, and at no time should a man or women touch unless they are married or family.
Women also used henna for beautification, and so it was heavily used by women, and occasionally by men in order to dye their hair.
I personally do Henna, and calligraphy. Textile may be a bit more physically demanding and so it is done more amongst men than women. But it depends on what type of textile. Clothes, rugs, etc. Calligraphy is done by both however; more by men, I think based on their ability to read Arabic.
I am an African American, but I know culturally many Arab women can neither read nor write Arabic. They can speak it and that is it. I was very surprised to learn this from several of my Jordanian friends.
When we are children we learn to speak simply by hearing and speaking with our family, but not until we are sent to school do we learn to read and then write. For some of my friends who moved to America at a young age or were born here, they learn Arabic because it is spoken in the home, but at school they are taught to read and write English, and sadly forget the importance of their own language. Continue reading ‘Interview: Aisha La’Don Epps-Abdul Rahman’
“Who wrote the Bible?”
February 28th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Not much of an art angle here, but here’s my article “Who wrote the Bible? Panelists address age-old question” in the Washington Jewish Week on a panel at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda on Biblical authorship.
The panelists were: Theodore Lewis, Blum-Iwry professor in Near Eastern studies at John Hopkins University, Adele Berlin, Robert H. Smith professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Maryland and editor of The Jewish Study Bible, and Rabbi Kenneth Hain, religious leader of the modern Orthodox Beth Sholom in Lawrence, N.Y., and former president of the Orthodox movement’s Rabbinical Council of America.
“Fantastically Real Kabbalah Paintings”
February 27th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of David Gafni’s Kabbalistic work is in this week’s Jewish Press. He is at New York Art Expo this weekend.
Interview: David Keller, Utah Valley State College
February 27th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Here is my interview with David Keller, computer science professor at Utah Valley State College. This is all part of my RNS article on Mormon art. See also interviews with Scott Gordon and Greg Kearney.
I am another FAIR volunteer and I take full responsibility for the views (which are not necessarily that of FAIR or the LDS Church) expressed in this email.
The prime example that critics use to complain that the LDS Church’s art misrepresents historical facts are pictures that show Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon with the golden plates present, rather than placing his face in a hat to limit outside light from interfering with revelation received from a seer stone.
I suspect there are two main reasons for this. First, I do not think the artists were aware of the historical accounts that report the seer stone in a hat method, although those accounts have appeared in church publications. Second, the accounts show that the translation process did not always occur the same way. Joseph translated the Book of Mormon in two locations: first Harmony, PA and second Fayette, NY. Witnesses to the Fayette process all report the seer stone in the hat method, while most witnesses in Harmony report there being a curtain between Joseph Smith and his scribe, with the golden plates being present. One of Smith’s first scribes, Martin Harris, reported that Joseph switched processes, hence he would have likely done so before Oliver Cowdery took over as a scribe in Harmony. Since the translation pictures in church publications usually portray Joseph and Oliver together, they mix and match elements from different translation periods. Continue reading ‘Interview: David Keller, Utah Valley State College’
Interview: Scott Gordon, FAIR President
February 26th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Here is my interview with Scott Gordon, president of the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR). The picture is from blacklds.org.
Greg Kearney sent you a good response already, but I wanted to make additional comments.
First of all, in looking at the blog I would consider it anti-Mormon. The artwork and blogs, are an attempt to attack Joseph Smith or to shock our sensibilities. We are familiar with the issues portrayed, and they are favorites that are brought up and highlighted by antagonists of the LDS church.
Art is, well, art. As art, it typically is there to represent ideas or evoke emotions.So just as the art on this blog is meant to evoke negative feelings, the art depicting some of Church history isn’t accurate. The Freiburg paintings, the Teichert paintings, and Greg Olsen’s paintings are probably the most popular from LDS artists, but Carl Bloch, the non-Mormon Danish artist, is probably still one of the most popular within the church.
There are no restrictions on art.
The Cranky Professor on “The world’s ugliest pulpit”
February 26th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Cranky Professor, who carries the subheading “You type, and I tell you why 4,500 years of written history shows you’re wrong,” posts on “the front of the cathedral in Pisa” which “may be the worst piece of 20th century religious art I’ve ever seen”:
Mind you, it’s all marble. To make matters worse, it’s within yards of one of the lovelier pulpits, by Giovanni Pisano from around 1300 … look at those horrible shapes in the new pulpit! And the colors? What were they thinking? Oh, well - it looks like it will be easy to remove, someday.
Image: Michael Tinkler (who seems to be CP), flickr.
Roundup: Christ’s (Sculpted) Nakedness, Rembrandt and Lent
February 26th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Interview: Greg Kearney, BYU BFA in Design
February 26th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
This is my interview with Greg Kearney, BFA design, 1980, Brigham Young University. I reached him through FAIR, but he spoke only for himself, not the organization. The image is from FAIR’s site.
MW: I am working on an article about the blog, Images of the Restoration, particularly its claim that art on Church-sponsored websites often misrepresent Church history. (E.g. the claim on IOTR that Joseph Smith never looked at the Golden Plates, but translated them sitting on stairs looking into his hat.) Can you comment on the blog and whether it represents serious criticism of Church art?
GK: I’ll comment on this blog but please understand that I speak only for myself and not for FAIR or the Church.
I have seen any number of critical sites about the church but this one is one of the more unique in its approach if not in it’s content. It uses the technique of having us look at 19th century people with 21st century eyes which make Joseph Smith and his contemporaries look strange to us.
Of course Smith and others believed in dowsing. Dowsing is still in wide practice today in New England. He likely believed in a whole host of folk beliefs of his day as did most people.
The image “Oliver Cowdery” which seems to be the best of the lot does not even give an accurate image of dowsing or water witching as it is sometime known. The stick shown is far to thick for that kind of work. But as I said these were common practices of the day and to some
extent still are. This is a kind of historical “got ya”.
Art, and religious art in particular, is not intended to be a historical record. Do we really believe that the holy family wore renaissance clothing or the the Star of Bethlehem appeared as a brilliant beacon in the night sky? Continue reading ‘Interview: Greg Kearney, BYU BFA in Design’
Roundup: Religious Prison Art, Building Bible Park USA
February 25th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Continue reading ‘Roundup: Religious Prison Art, Building Bible Park USA’
Roundup: Columbian Police Recover Stolen Religious Artifacts
February 21st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Roundup: Utah’s Undocumented Workers, Wiki’s Advice on Prophet Images
February 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Roundup: Buddha in NY, Exhibitting Stolen Art
February 19th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
More Discussion on Mormon Art
February 16th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article on Mormon art (see the complete text on beliefnet) has led to some interesting comments on FAIR Blog (The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research). FAIR also created a Wiki page titled “Church art and historical accuracy” and a podcast.
Roundup: Church Ceiling Falls, Stillborn Tunes
February 14th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Alexenberg: “An open letter to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad”
February 14th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Mel Alexenberg is circulating a “Letter to Salaam Fayad” via Facebook about his Aesthetic Peace Facebook group. The letter is as follows:
An open letter to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad:
You spoke about making peace with Israel in a Jerusalem Post interview (13/02/08), “This is a small and rough neighborhood, and we have to do it right, and doing it right requires a new paradigm, a new thinking.”
The new paradigm that you propose can be derived from Islamic art. It can provide a new way of thinking to bring peace between Jews and Arabs in their shared neighborhood. This paradigm shift can bring to an end seeing Israel as an alien presence in the Middle East and the 60-year war to wipe it off the map.
In Islamic art, a uniform geometric pattern is purposely disrupted by the introduction of a counter-pattern to demonstrate that human creation is less than perfect. Based upon the belief that only Allah creates perfection, rug weavers from Islamic lands intentionally weave a small patch of dissimilar pattern to break the symmetry of their rugs. The Islamic artisan does not want to be perceived as competing with the perfection of Allah.
Perhaps you see a continuous pattern like a beautiful Islamic rug running from Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern borders of Iran. Shift your perception to see Israel, not as a blemish on the great Islamic rug, but as a small counter-pattern needed to realize Islamic values.
The ingathering of the Jewish People into its historic homeland in the midst of the Islamic world is the fulfillment of Mohammed’s prophecy in the Koran (Sura 17:104): “And we said to the Children of Israel, ‘scatter and live all over the world…and when the end of the world is near we will gather you again into the Promised Land.”
Switch your viewpoint to recognize the sovereign right of the Jews over the Land of Israel as the will of Allah as expressed in the Koran (Sura 5:20-21): “Remember when Moses said to his people: ‘O my people, call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave to you what He had not given to any other among the people. O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has assigned unto you.’”
Recognize the State of Israel as a blessing expressing Allah’s will.
Shalom/Salaam,
Professor Mel Alexenberg
Petach Tikvah (Opening to Hope), Israel
A Historical Precendent for the Madonna with Dung?
February 14th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
I just came across an interesting reference in Dale Kent’s “Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine Renaissance” to an “unsuccessful gambler” who was “tried and executed because in a fit of rage at the Virgin’s failure to protect him as he had prayed to her to do so, he flung a handful of dung at her image in one of the neighborhood street shrines he passed on his way home” (98). Could this be a 15th century inspiration for Chris Ofili’s “The Holy Virgin Mary” (Wiki page here)?
My Article on Mormon Art on Beliefnet
February 14th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Beliefnet has posted the entire text of my article “Artists Present an Uncensored View of Mormon History” (Religion News Service). The article has generated a good deal of discussion, though the comments tend to attend to Mormonism rather than to Mormon artists. A commenter under the name “jestrfyl” has some interesting remarks about Cranach.
“Voluntary And Compulsory Martyrdom: Spinoza And M. Rabinowitz”
February 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of the plays “Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz” and “New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza At Talmud Torah Congregation: Amsterdam, July 27, 1656″ is in this week’s Jewish Press.
“Mormon artists critique church’s illustrated history”
February 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article on Mormon art is in this week’s edition of RNS. If any publications post the text I will link it, but so far there’s just the teaser on the RNS site:
(UNDATED) Like many religious institutions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sponsored countless artistic works to document its history and promote its beliefs. But now, in a painter-bites-dog move, a group of Mormon artists is trying to censor the paintings, claiming the church can neither tolerate artistic dissent nor even keep track of its own history. An online forum, Images of the Restoration, compares and contrasts official church-sponsored art with the historical record, not always approvingly. Church officials have dismissed the site as irrelevant and “anti-Mormon,” yet it raises pointed questions about a church’s ability to protect — and promote — its own artistic and historical legacy.
Iconia Spammed Multiple Times by Obama Campaign
February 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Iconia doesn’t see its role as endorsing candidates, but as the Obama campaign continues to solicit my vote with spam messages on my cell phone (in response evidently to an interview I requested about a sculpture that cast Obama as Jesus), I am going to recommend to all my readers that they rethink Obama’s dedication to new media and reaching out to the younger generation. How tech savvy and aware of Gen Y could Obama be if he thinks its wise to spam a reporter trying to interview him about religion and art?
Roundup: Jewish Doll-home and Lent Art
February 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Roundup: Saving Churches, Praying like Trees, All Art is Not Christian Art
February 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Lightning Strikes Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, Redeemer Safe
February 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The Daily Mail, UK, reports on a (miraculous?) survival story: Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, the largest Christ sculpture in the world, was struck by lighting, but remains standing. “This amazing photograph gives whole new meaning to the phrase ‘May God strike me with lightning if,’” writes the Daily Mail, and indeed it does.
3 Arrested for Plot to Kill Muhammad Cartoonist
February 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Guest Post: In Defense of Art Theft
February 11th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Guest blogger Michael Dubitzky posts on a recent story of stolen paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Monet and van Gogh.
Today’s news that three men relieved the E.G. Buehrle Collection in Zurich, Switzerland of nearly $100 million worth of paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne (among others) probably saddened many in the art world. However, apart from the museum ownership, staff and regular visitors, the rest of us should enjoy and perhaps celebrate this joyous occasion. The very act of art theft has become one of high performance art, on par with any other. The fact that it is illegal and sometimes quite dangerous should only heighten our admiration for these pilfering Baryshnikovs. And hey, breaking the law should pose no obstacle to an art world which has already proclaimed street graffiti to be works of intense counter-cultural genius.
The art thief is anything but crude. He never bursts into a museum with guns blazing, shooting up the place like some two-bit pirate. As is the case with any great artist, his performance requires meticulous planning, improvisational skill, subtlety, grace and yes, style. The famous 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, still the most expensive unsolved art burglary on the planet, involved a scheme of simple cunning. The minimalist effort saw two men dressed as police officers quietly enter the museum after-hours, courteously tie up the security personnel and cut thirteen masterpieces from their frames. When the show was over, they rolled the artwork up and walked out. Witness the art thief executing his opus with a whisper, a refreshing departure from the bluster attendant to the embarrassing self-promotion of the 21st Century’s “great” artists (I mean you, Damien Hirst). He also forges ahead blessedly immune to the inevitable wailing of art critics.
Transylvanian Biblical Icons, Jesus’ Jewish Mohel
February 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Continue reading ‘Transylvanian Biblical Icons, Jesus’ Jewish Mohel’
New Tapestry at St. Stephens
February 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Father Marcus McFadin of St. Stephens Catholic Church shows a tapestry by California artist John Nava at the East side church. [El Paso Times]
The tapestry, which will measure 17 feet by 6 feet, “will be hung a few feet from the walls, helping to balance the sound,” and thus avoiding the previous “acoustics problems” from the concrete walls.
McFadin says: “people will be able to touch them, which is important to people when they pray,” “It’s contemporary with some traditional touches,” and “We wanted the saints to represent the diverse ethnic culture of the parish.”
Painting Kenya’s Slums, 2,000 Year-Old Yarmulke
February 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
