So the old idea has been scrapped (for now). Perhaps after graduation or sometime next semester I'll do it.
The new idea is to take (positive) quotes from religious texts (Koran, Sutra's, Bible, ect.) and put them on the front pages throughout the text. I will include my own writings and images to accompany and create a dialogue in the text.
On the back pages I will include texts that deal with war, oppression, and other 'negative' aspects of religion. These to will be accompanied by writings and texts. (Note: I want to print these upside down on the back pages. This is not only interesting in what it means that negative aspects are printed upside down, but will also encourage different ways of reading the text)
I will also include statistics and bits from news articles throughout the text, wherever I find appropriate.
My idea is to create a book that explores the positive and negative aspects of religion. I want to delve into what happens to the mind when one gives up ones autonomy and submits to the creed of tradition.
Questions I want to explore are:
- Why do people/do people have a choice to be religious?
- What does our religions say about human nature?
- Are the non-religious different from the religious in behavior/action?
- Are there some religious 'truths' that span geographic region and culture?
Any other ideas/questions you could offer would be helpful. Thanks.
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Tim,
ReplyDeleteI was immediately drawn to your idea of having different ways to read, and hence, interpret the text. I wonder if you already thought about including Hebrew texts (I'm sure Rachel will help! haha) and playing with the notion of writing "backwards" so to speak. Or having Hebrew written the other way, (for example, Allison in Hebrew is aleph, lamed, yud, samech, vav, nun sofit...but you could flip that...and find totally new meanings (no-see-ah)) The same idea could be used for english too. I'm also thinking of anagrams in Hebrew/English that could be very interesting to play with (for example, I feel like the hebrew word for "nothing" is an anagram of several words.) Hebrew would also be a natural choice since hebrew texts are the basis for Christianity and Islam. So, something to think about there.
Another thought/question I had was...will you make the accompanying "negative" text something that has to do with the positive "religious" text on the page? For example, were you thinking of inserting al-qaeda texts/news articles alongside quotes from the koran? or is this more of a commentary on religion in general as opposed to specific oppressive acts with their roots in religion?
I'm really excited about this, I think its going to be great.
Señor Tim!
ReplyDeleteI think this is going to be a big subject to tackle, but I have faith (ha ha) that you will make it fit together. I think that examining the distinctions geographically between kinds of religions has a lot of potential, especially if you decide to stick to this visual way of comparing/ contrasting different ideals. The Vedas, I would imagine, would look very distinct from the Bible.
Do you think you'd want to keep the sacared texts in their original languages?
How are you going to include your own text into this? Insert them directly into the text? Or somehow highlight that they are your words? Or just leave them in there to see when people start to notice that your own words are permeating the text? Do you intend to be critical of the positive or negative statements in their very midst?
Clearly, I have a lot of questions, but that's because I'm excited about seeing what you will come up with. Especially when it comes to the choice about being religious or not. Very cool.