- Feb 20, 2007
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This is my first installment on religious art. Today we'll be discussing the sculpture 'Touchdown Jesus'.
Touchdown Jesus came into prominence among Christian circles lately when it was struck by lightening and subsequently burnt to the ground. While speculation has run rampant on exactly why Touchdown Jesus was struck down by lightening, most sober and right-thinking individuals lean towards the opinion that God smote the sculpture simply because it was 'bad art'. This article attempts to address exactly what is wrong with Touchdown Jesus.
Firstly, all good religious art references a point in scripture which should be immediately recognized by the viewer. Although a tertiary look at our subject gives the impression of the risen Lord, certainly no article of scripture comes to my mind. Hence, the unflattering moniker Touchdown Jesus. A more critical examination might remind the viewer more of St. Peter after taking those few fateful steps out of the boat into a raging storm.
Which brings to to my next and more aesthetical point. Aside from the awkward pose imitating an American football what is as equally or more distracting is the way the artist chose to clumsily amputate our subject at the chest thus only only succeeding in making our Lord look not so much as if He were celebrating an exhillarating score, but more as if He were floundering in the shallows of a small pond.
And then there's the, as one critic put it, the "discombobulated conglomeration of assorted religious symbols". Verily, the cross which lies one quarter submerged has all appearances of a mis-guided afterthought. Proportionally it does not relate to the figure and the viewer has to ask himself if it's only there because the figure, with it's nordic like appearance, is so poorly rendered, it's barely recognizable as the risen Lord.
And finally, one has to consider the materials of which Touchdown Jesus was constructed. All aspects of a creation, materials included, will tell you something of the creator. Touchdown Jesus, with it's fiberglass and foam exterior over a steel skeleton, reflects spendidly the facade and lack of permanence which describes modern western Christianity.
And that concludes this installment of Art appreciation 101. Please feel free to add your own comment and look forward to my next installment when I critique the Monument of the Reformers, an equally aestheticlly impoverished work of art, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Until then,
Pax tecum
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