21st CENTURY JESUS, gothic art reinterpretation
AIP2, Session 2
Who is God?
Did he really create the world in seven days? Is he watching us? How do we assume that God is a “he”, not a “she”? Where is God right now, and what is he (or she) doing?
Does he even exist?
To me, the existence of God is something I believe each and every one of us have the right to analyse individually. Regardless of whether or not one believes in the existence of a higher deity, one cannot deny that humans throughout history have erected systems, writings, not to mention countless rituals and architectural miracles in the name of the supernatural(s). A religion, we call it. One can even say that the world wouldn’t be the way it is right now without religions—and indeed, every civilization we have studied so far showed that religion played a large role in shaping it. Some civilisations, such as the Ancient Egyptians, believed in the existence of multiple gods. Different gods governed different parts of life—from the cycle of the earth to household animals (especially cats). These gods behaved as humans did, the only difference being their supernatural powers. Other civilisations, such as the Byzantine Empire, believed in the existence of one god, a god who is omnipresent and all-powerful. Whole systems are erected in the name of this religion, often so complex and so hierarchical it resembles a small government.
My painting, an attempt to venture into the world of gothic art, reflects my feelings towards these systems. Everyone in Indonesia belongs to one religion or another. It is even written in our Pancasila, the five principles on which our nation is built upon—“Ketuhanan yang maha Esa”, belief in the one and only god, is the very first principle. As such, god’s existence (or our perception of it) can be observed anywhere. You can’t walk a few miles without coming across a mosque, a church, or any other holy synagogue. Religion is a mandatory subject in all schools, wherein one learns how to better apply the teachings of one’s, well, religion. Even the internet, a non-physical cyberspace that only pops to existence when you have an internet connection is not free from the grasps of its invasive omnipresence. Growing up in a (mostly) Catholic family, I grew up with Jesus as the “image” of God, and the subject would be filled with a) a story of him telling a story or b) random snippets of Hebrew.
Anyone who reaches for their phone first thing in the morning can atone to the countless streams of “GOD LOVES YOU” posts, usually depicting a respected deity among a herd of sheep/children/dead people (your pick). Or the “1 like = 1 prayer” posts, in which each acknowledgement (a.k.a. the “like”) benefits anyone but the starving African child in the picture. And let’s not forget the two-thousand word comment that tells of the Illuminati, the Antichrist, and apparent signs of Doomsday observed from an abstract piece of toast, usually followed by the words “Repost or die!!!!1!” or some variant of that.
It seems to me that any god, regardless of whether he has the head of a jackal or the beard of a well-groomed Viking, would have things better to do than to kill your family if you don’t write the words “God is good” five times in the comments section.
“21st Century Jesus” is essentially a mockery of this absurdity, the idea that God is appeasable and mundane, that he eats microwave TV dinner every Friday night while he scrolls through the endless stream of slacktivism, iPad in one hand, dinner fork in another.
What makes it disturbing, though, is that this kind of slacktivism exists. If we were so sure of our own beliefs, if our relationship with God is so secure, why do we need these kind of posts to prove our stand? In a way, slacktivism has become its own religion- it touts the same “if you don’t do this, you suffer” mantra that appeals to our primal side—to fear is to survive. But to fear the fiery pits does not equal love for God. If there were no consequences or rewards, would we still believe in a higher deity? If there was no function to religion, would we still practice it for religion’s sake?
How strong is our “faith”?
At the end of the day, the painting serves a more comic purpose than provocative—if God really cared about our posts, how would he do it? Perhaps sitting in an armchair, decked in his favourite bathrobe, eating a microwave meal because he was too tired to whip up a real dinner. Maybe he would browse through our dutiful sharing and liking on an iPad, while simultaneously watching a late night TV show. Toothbrush and toothpaste in his pocket—he’s going to sleep any time now, just five more minutes. Of course, he’s a god, so he’s decked in his own personal halo and thorny crown, only his halo is of emojis and his crown is made of spoons, forks, and antennae. It’s the latest trend, after all.
In short, just another Wednesday night for Jesus.