Art – Page 11

“A Very British Day of the Dead”: The Glastonbury Festival of Death and Dying

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021 by Duende

The Somerset market town of Glastonbury has a long and highly storied history, being closely connected in legend to both the coming of Christianity to England and to a vast stream of pre- and post-Christian “alternative spiritualities”. The modern township includes representatives of some seventy religious and spiritual persuasions and the main shopping district is … Read more“A Very British Day of the Dead”: The Glastonbury Festival of Death and Dying

Vasilisa the Beautiful with her Skull Lamp

June 8, 2021March 26, 2021 by Duende

Adapted from artist Ivan Bilbin’s 1899 illustration Vasilisa at the Hut of Baba Yaga.

Death Spiral

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 by Duende

The Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Poetic Faith and Nontheistic Spirituality

December 23, 2021February 24, 2021 by Duende

Nontheistic spirituality and spiritual naturalism are umbrella terms for spiritual disciplines that require no faith in the literally supernatural. Examples include Humanism, numerous forms of atheistic/secular Paganism, Humanistic Judaism, Secular Buddhism, The Satanic Temple’s approach to Satanism and so-on, as well as present-day revivals of ancient philosophies such as Stoicism and Epicureanism. My Way of … Read moreThe Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Poetic Faith and Nontheistic Spirituality

“Monuments to Unbelief”

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 by Duende

Leigh E. Schmidt’s essay for Aeon.com examines the phenomenon of public memorials representing humanism, freethought and atheism: American freethinkers had long been preoccupied with the public memorialising of their incredulity and anticlericalism. They wanted to enshrine their commitment to scientific rationality over biblical revelation, their strict construction of church-state separation, and their worldly focus on … Read more“Monuments to Unbelief”

“Opponents” by Jenny Jinya

June 8, 2021January 15, 2021 by Duende

You can see more of artist Jenny Jinya’s “Loving Reaper” cartoons here – though be aware that few of them end quite this happily.

The Oscar Wilde Temple

December 24, 2020December 24, 2020 by Duende

Artist Peter McGough explains the Oscar Wilde Temple, a secular “celebration of the creative process through which experience is transformed into art and reality abstracted into revelation.” For more information on this project, please see the Oscar Wilde Temple website.

Midwinter Solstice and the Notion of Genius Loci

February 23, 2021December 20, 2020 by Duende

My Midwinter altar – I think “locus” is actually more apt in this context – is a literal illumination of the vanitas theme, a union of wunderkammer and kamidana (wunderkamidana?) It’s an assemblage of objects whose symbolic meanings are both amplified and made more subtle by their interrelationships. I try my clumsy best to make … Read moreMidwinter Solstice and the Notion of Genius Loci

Ukiyo-e

February 23, 2021December 2, 2020 by Duende

I woke up this morning with a carpe diem image in my mind and set to recreating it via Photoshop. Adapted from artist Totoya Hokkei’s original ukiyo-e print (undated, circa 1780-1850), this montage portrays a torch-bearing flowerskull priest gathering seaweed as he darts between crashing waves.

A Pocket History of Tucson’s All Souls Procession

November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by Duende

Established in 1990 and on hold (in its full form) until the abeyance of the COVID-19 crisis, Tucson’s All Souls Procession remains a grassroots community festival of memorial and celebration. This short video offers a glimpse back into its history.