I’m not a huge fan of the use of emoticons. But I have found myself using the little emoji thumbs up thing in a few text messages lately. Please help me.
Chris Eckert is an artist. And a philosopher. Of some sort. Though all artists would like to think they’re philosophers. And I really like this “Auto Ink”…
He wanted to represent the truism that the greatest predictor for your religious beliefs is where you live. Which is true. It’s not the only factor, but it is a factor.
So he designed this…
It’s a tattooing machine that will randomly assign you a religion – and you’ll be stuck with it for life, symbolically tattooed on your wrist.
What I’d like to know, is what happens if you want to choose a religion after doing the hard work of thinking about it (what would I know though, my parents are Christian so my compliance was virtually assured). Can you get a second tattoo? Over the top of the first?
Here’s the blurb from the machine’s web page:
“The strongest indication of a person’s religion is geography. You are born into your religion. That doesn’t make it irrelevant or incorrect–religion provides a framework for basic morality that’s very powerful and it gives people a cultural identity that spans borders. I’ve attended mass in Dutch, German, French, and Spanish and I’ve always felt like I belonged. While my personal experience with religion is one of inclusion, a system that unites people from different regions and cultures, the public face of religion is often one of exclusion. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish zealots who know what God wants. More specifically they know what God doesn’t want and apparently God does not want me…or you. This public face of religion is always so certain, self-confident, even arrogant. That anyone could possibly know the “truth” when that truth is randomly assigned at birth is just funny.
Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the persons arm. The operator does not have control over the assigned symbol. It is assigned either randomly or through divine intervention, depending on your personal beliefs.”
It’s provocative and creative. So it’s art. Watch it work.
