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Artists'
Statement For myself, it brought up the question, "Does higher power really exist during times of hardship and tragedy or are icons of higher power simply something we create to make ourselves feel better?" This seemed relevant as the events of September 11 had been based on fundamentalist religious ideas. All three western religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, stem from the same religious core, all of which hold the angels in high regard. In the very crowded hierarchy of angelic lore dating back to biblical times, there is a high order of angels called The Grigori or The Watchers. The term Grigori means "those who watch" or "those who are awake." They never sleep, they resemble men in appearance except that they are "as tall as giants," and they are eternally silent. According to Jewish legendary lore and the Book of Jubilees, The Watchers were sent by God to instruct the children of men, but they fell after they descended to earth. In Enoch I there is mention of seven Watchers, and here the story is that they fell because they failed to appear on time for certain tasks apportioned to them. Some versions of rabbinic and cabalistic lore speak of both good and evil Watchers dwelling in the 3rd and 5th heaven as well as on Earth. It has been written that these angels had mixed motives ranging from lusty appetites to genuine friendship and a desire to teach humans the secrets of heaven. Never the less, God ignores these facts and 9/10 of the Grigori fell during the rebel angel wars. Chiefs among the good watchers are Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Gabriel, Remiel and Zerachiel. Zerachiel, one of the seven "good" angels "who keep watch" mentioned in Enoch I and Esdras IV, is the presiding angel of the sun. When putting the work together as a whole series, I was drawn to the idea of playing with juxtapositions of religious and film icons. In the golden age of Hollywood, Lobby Cards were used to sell a film. A lobby card is an 11x14 placard advertising a movie and displayed in the theatre lobby to entice moviegoers to the box office. Since the first days of film, lobby cards, posters and photographic stills have been issued by the major movie studios to publicize their films. Lobby cards from the 1920s and 30s were often fine pieces of art and to this day are highly collectible. Often presented as a set of eight stills from a film, bordered by a deco image and repeated tag line, they were placed in a theatre lobby next to the film¹s poster. My lobby cards are set in a framework inspired by Catholic Hispanic prayer candles to play with the double meaning of icon worship: both traditional saint worship and modern day media worship. The mysterious Watchers who are earth-bound are not always able to interact with man's God-given "free will" on Earth. If "free will" is god's gift to us, look at the hardship, pain and also beauty we appropriate in the world. Though the angels may be watching, ultimately we must take control of our own destiny. |
Author: Jana Marcus
Email: jana@jlmphotography.com Home Page: www.jlmphotography.com Other information: |