thing. Rather than just looking at something that is pretty, or something that is
interesting, you’re also informing them. I
think that’s great!
Thank you. I think it’s nice too. When I say
there’s hatred behind it, it’s not necessarily
hatred towards any one person. I hate that we
have been treated like this and that we’re continued to be treated like this. That’s where it
comes from. Probably more so fear than anything.
That’s completely understandable. It’s so
sad, especially when the funerals were
Orlando’s Art Scene, v. 1.2
being protested…
We fought back, though.
Yeah, I’ve been amazed by the amount
of people that have come together to be
anti-protesters. Hopefully, we start to
see some kind of change. The Westboro
Baptist Church was the main antagonist
of the funerals, and obviously, Christianity speaks out strongly against the LGBT
community. Your pieces Convoluted #1
& Convoluted #2 are sculptures that are
made up of cut up strips of Bible verses.
Did you enjoy cutting up the Bible?
I did. I really did. I don’t know if it was a relief,
but I let a lot out during that process. It’s a
very tedious process. I went around town to
eleven or so different antique stores, antique
bookstores, and thrift shops, and I bought all
these Bibles. It had to have looked like I was
some kinda Bible thumper. At one point one
of the cashiers asked me, “Why are you collecting old Bibles? What are you going to do
with them? Are you a person of faith?” I was
like, “Well… no. Not to be too crass, but I’m
going to cut them all up.” For the rest of the
time that I was at the counter, she was completely silent and I knew that I offended her,
but it got to the point where I needed this and
a lot of the anger in those pieces is directed at
Christianity in general. I grew up in a Christian
household that wasn’t very accepting.
I did as well and I can understand where
that is coming from. Honestly, the only
issue that people have with gay people
in general and with the LGBT community is that the Bible says that it’s wrong. If
the Bible didn’t exist this wouldn’t be an
issue, but someone would probably find
some kind of issue with people being different.
People would be really pissed off that somebody is eating shrimp. It’s a very cliché argument to talk about all the contradictions in the
Bible. Those pieces were intended to expose
the contradictions and the hypocrisy. It was
very satisfying, to say the least.
You chose, what was it, six specific Bible
verses?
I believe it was nine, but they were all specifically related to what the Bible has explicitly
said about homosexuality.
Were the verses in the Old Testament,
New Testament, or both?
Both. Only two of the quotes are from the Old
Testament. I read up about a mistranslation
of “Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with
womankind” and the theme of the passage was
about adultery, it was basically saying, “Don’t
lay with other people. Just don’t cheat.”
Those two pieces are the only ones that
don’t have to do with the human body in
some respect. The rest of them are literally made of part of you or part of other people, molds of body parts, or consumables
of some sort. I find it really interesting
that you are using the body as a symbol,
and I read into the blood as a life force.
They all seem to be about life, with the
exception of your piece Placebo.
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