Postmodern Iconoclasm

As an armchair theologian who also enjoys making visual art, I have sometimes combined these disciplines. About two years ago, while studying post modernity and symbolism it thus occured to me to create a series of work on the basis of these studies. The works themselves were all electronically produced and were less of an expression of what I was learning and more of a continuation of learning through artistic experimentation. Since post modern relativists hold that all symbolism is finally vacouse and bereft of any ultimate meaning I decided to produce a series of works which would explore this notion.

In order to produce these works I chose symbols at random, from a bank images in photoshop or from dingbats and other fonts, and assembled them into a pleasing arrangement onto an electronic canvas (I could think of nothing more postmodern that computer generated reality). Then, in the fashion of a “freewrite” I wrote whatever came to mind. The object of the freewrite was to sound like I was saying something while not ever really saying anything at all. Within this freewrite I would later insert references to the symbols I had created on the canvas. In the final step I then inserted this writing into the design of the e-canvas giving the impression that the writing was somehow the interpretation of the symbols themselves.

Now what struck me as interesting in doing this experiment was that meaning could never really be escaped. No matter how hard I tried it seemed that the symbols of language, the visual symbols and the rules of gramer made it impossible to really say nothing at all while appearing to say something. As it turned out the images and writings always did in fact communicate something real and identifiable even if not singular. Even more interesting than this was the fact that my own writings revealed layers of subconcius thought that were previously unknown. Hence the process that was meant to conceal and obfuscate if not obliterate true meaning, turned out to be revelatory.

As an extension of these works i would like to share them with the viewers of this blog This then promises to be the first of many posts of its kind. The writing within the piece is reprinted below so that it may be deciphered if you so desire.

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"Repentance is never within certain proximity, even though God’s pertinacious gravity greatly reduces mere recapitulation. However, in such a time as this a full turn was unnecessary and would have initiated a rapid succession of obtuse effects as would be demonstrated by a later repulsion to ‘domesticated transcendence.’ What then kindled the desire of the new man and his was a new form of less-extreme unction. In an attempt to abandon the allure of former ratiocinations, ineffability was demonstrated as the highest discourse. Thus crossing the t and dotting the i of particularity became impossible impoverishing the universal significance of individual life while ambiguity itself became ineluctable."