The proskinitari is Finished

The Proskinitari welcomed the Saints this evening (22/2/08). It is a very important moment for me and my family.I have painted the Proskinitari with a nice color, not white but a light nuance of the rock colors.

Reflection – 3W9

The discussions for the Camberwell Mada08 final exhibition are going on. After the tutorial i had with Jonathan everything was clear about how i could continue with my project. The final show is a big event with many students showing their work. I had to decide what to show at the exhibition and  apparently i could not show up what i have included in the prototype that i have designed before, but something in a smaller scale.

Jonathan suggested a show at the park of my neighbourhood including agiographies and the Proskinitari. I found his idea wonderfull but that has to be done in a way that SPECTACLE will not come in opposition of the litourgic scope of Byzantine art.

I could organize the event in May after the Easter, with all the symbolic meaning and i think i could transmit to the audience better the message of my work.So an initial idea is to:

• organize a show of my work in May in the park of my neighbourhood and the Proskinitari.
• invite young students from the school i am teaching.  

3W1 – 3W8

Since Christmas and the new year 2008 i have not posted feedback on my blog, except some notes regarding the progress of the proskinitari. This period has been extremely important for being inspired and studying resources concerning Byzantine art and Christian Orthodox religion. This sacred art has certain constraints that must be taken into account before someone decides that this art can be practiced without hesitation. Actually a deep investigation into the soul of the artist is a must challenge for the artist. Self – knowledge and self development are outcomes of a forged discipline.

 Elder Paisios was saying: “When we reach a good spiritual condition and the overflow of love for Jesus Christ exists then these works become prays”.

I was thinking innovation in Byzantine art when i was proposing the creation of digital icons. The claim that Byzantine art is a living one is true but someone must be careful.

As i mention in my discussion paper Archibishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus Orthodox church says to his spiritual children: ” Immitate, don’t innovative. “The failure to honor this simple principle has serious negative concequences, not only for the field of sacred art, but in every other area of the Orthodox theolodgy as well. The malaise of modernism, which so deeply affects so many Orthodox jurisdictions today, can be traced precisely to willful rejection of the humility of imitation for the arrogance of innovation”.

I would say that i agree with the half truth of the quote of the former archbishop of Cyprus who passed away in December of 2007. Between imitation and innovation there must be a different background that a Byzantine hagiographer can work safely. I believe that imitation is not dangerous but innovation could be. There are famous painters who copied the work of other painters or painters who copied their own works and reproduced them. This is not a drawback in Byzantine art at least when not done extensively or impetuously.

Unfortunately in Cyprus there is an ecclesiastical committee that checks the icons that are Byzantine. It is a kind of censorship that limits Hagiographers innovative expression. This kind of censorship probably puts Byzantine art in a mould of stagnation.

I proposed a dvd player installation at the proskinitari in my neighbourhood park. At the moment i regret of making this exciting new proposal. It was just a waste of thought for the sake of a SPECTACLE*. I also proposed the connection of proskinitari with Internet so that internet users can send an online request to the proskinitari, a request to the Saints. This proposal was rejected by the municipal council of my area for various reasons but i accepted the decision without being disappointed.

What is the difference of these two ideas? Why the first innovative idea could be dangerous but the second idea might have a prospect of standing out? The first idea would probably not be liturgical. As the Greek word indicate this idea might not have the prospect to work out. The viewers would probably reject this idea because nobody would understand it. I would be the only supporter of my idea leading myself to isolation. I could also be accused as heretic. The second idea could be litourgical because people from other countries could send a request to the saints using the internet. It would be an innovative idea that wouldn’t be set into question by the Greek Cypriot community. Off-course the installation shouldn’t be constructed in a way that many wires, a printer or other technological devices would be obvious for the site pilgrims. This kind of scene would probably alienate the pilgrims. Orthodox Christians have a common language. They are raised in an environment where the Church’s language is established and is understood by the local society. This is the church’s language of liturgy and communication. If i would go to the church on Sunday morning and hear my priest preaching the Gospel in a foreign language that nobody understands then i would feel stranger in my area church.

50 days after Pascha and the ascent of Jesus Christ to heaven the Apostles received the holy spirit. They could speak one language and be understood by people speaking different languages. This is a miracle that happened after the intervention of holy spirit. Hagiographers, priests and everybody who have some relation with the church’s liturgy have to be careful to reach the pilgrims in a way that they understand them. The holy spirit can reach the humble pilgrim in a less SPECTACULAR way, in a hidden, humble way.

SPECTACLE* – My project, Spectacle in Art, Society of the spectacle – Guy Dedord

“The images detached from every aspect of life fuse in a common stream in which the unity of this life can no longer be reestablished. Reality considered partially unfolds, in its own general unity, as a pseudo-world apart, an object of mere contemplation. The specialization of images of the world is completed in the world of the autonomous image, where the liar has lied to himself. The spectacle in general, as the concrete inversion of life, is the autonomous movement of the non-living”(Guy Debord)

The spectacularization is evident in every expression of life. It sweeps along people who seem to engoy living in the society of spectacle. Actually they are exhausted being in the middle of a warfare, the battle of image but don’t seem to understand that this hyperactivity related to the consumption of images, commodities and staged events is the cause of the decline of soul.