The Device to Root out Evil
I stood in a small park by the ocean today in Vancouver staring at an outstanding sculpture by Dennis Oppenheim called the device to root out evil.In some aspects it is not a surprise that Stanford rejected the piece of art as it can be viewed through a very negative lense. An upside down church to some could be as heretical as an inverted crucifix but at the same time it can tell a dozen other stories. Here are my dozen:
1. The Church is being turned upside down in our day to have greater relevance
2. The Church was never designed to be an institution but rater a tool (device) to bring life to the world in which we live
3. The Church was sent down to penetrate the earth (hence the steeple digging into the ground)
4. The Church represents an upside down kingdom of values in a self infatuated world
5. The Church is noticably empty
6. The Church has been turned upside down to shake out all the people back into normal reality
7. The Church is still iconic and will never be forgotten no matter what way you look at it
8. The Church was meant to disturb the normal ways of life
9. We perceive the Church to be one thing but it may have been designed to be something very different
10. The Church has become the inverted cross and is fighting against much of what it was designed to be
11. The tiles are falling off the roof as it can no longer can be contained
12. The Church was designed to capture everyone's attention and to cause active change in the world
I am sure that I could rant on with another dozen but instead I will stop here in the hope that the conversation continues.
In conclusion, I am still astounded that this is in the middle of Vancouver. It brings me hope that I live in a country that is willing to ask the bigger questions
Mark Dowds
posted by Mark Dowds @ Sunday, July 30, 2006
19 comments
