Artist wants Jesus Popsicles to stand as statement on fanaticism, violence
CNN | BELIEF
By Eliott C. McLaughlin
NEW YORK -- Sebastian Errazuriz has used art to take on an array of issues...Now, the Brooklyn-based artist is taking aim at what he sees as religious extremism. At a party this weekend celebrating New York Design Week, the Chilean-born artist plans to hand out 100 "Christian Popsicles" made of "frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ" and featuring a crucifix instead the tongue depressor that typically hosts the frozen treats, he said. Errazuriz wants his "Christian Popsicles," which will be stained red by the wine after their consumption, to signify the relationship between fanaticism and historic religious violence. [link]
By Eliott C. McLaughlin
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Perhaps the artist himself was confused? This is not likely, in view of these later details:
"Raised in a Catholic household, Errazuriz is now a “practicing atheist,” but he has many friends and family members who are religious, and he respects their beliefs. … His frozen cocktails stand as a symbol, he said, an invitation to “drink the Kool-Aid” that he feels so many religious zealots are stirring up."
No matter how strained his relationship to Catholicism, surely Errazuriz knows that there is a difference between a priest blessing something and the formal prayers of consecration that are recited over the elements during the most holy moments of a Mass.
Also, what in the world does “inadvertently blessed” mean? Is the artist claiming that he hid his container UNDER the church altar? Come to think of it, the artist would have to be claiming that he hid his frozen wine container ON THE ALTAR, in a strategic location and in clear view of all. It that is true, what does “concealed” mean?