“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Sea of Cybermen
On Twitter, Lin Mu sent me this image, called Sea of Buddhas by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Quite rightly Lin Mu called them “connected and withdrawn.” Somewhat irreverently, however, I couldn't help thinking of Doctor Who's nemesis, the Cybermen:
Visiting Sanjusangendo Hall is probably the closest thing I've had to a spiritual experience in my adult life. The statues stretch out beyond your peripheral vision and each statue has gleaming eyes that seem to stare forward at the viewer, making it feel like they are on the verge of marching on you. It's quite overwhelming and sublime. At least for me, Japanese temple statuary seems to have a quality of horrific awe that is missing from most churches and cathedrals. The enormous deities and demons dwarf the viewer, like in a church, but they also seem to threaten and menace, as if to remind the viewer of his or her own fragility. At least, that's what I felt at age 20.
But, yes, I could also totally see the Kannon statues lurching forward with a monotone, "Delete! Delete!"
1 comment:
Visiting Sanjusangendo Hall is probably the closest thing I've had to a spiritual experience in my adult life. The statues stretch out beyond your peripheral vision and each statue has gleaming eyes that seem to stare forward at the viewer, making it feel like they are on the verge of marching on you. It's quite overwhelming and sublime. At least for me, Japanese temple statuary seems to have a quality of horrific awe that is missing from most churches and cathedrals. The enormous deities and demons dwarf the viewer, like in a church, but they also seem to threaten and menace, as if to remind the viewer of his or her own fragility. At least, that's what I felt at age 20.
But, yes, I could also totally see the Kannon statues lurching forward with a monotone, "Delete! Delete!"
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