I recently read a blog by my peer Paul Nyetanyane. He is a fellow Graphic Design student at Nemisa. His blog is themed around blasphemy, a controversial topic which puts the strongly religious against those who favour bending the rules as far as they can be, but before I delve deeper into the issue let us first define the word. Wikipedia defines blasphemy as "the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity, irrelevance towards something considered sacred or inviolable". Paul is focusing of blasphemy in art more specifically that which seems to be pertaining to Christianity.
Christian theology condemns the act and some are deemed as unforgivable in the bible such as speaking ill of the holy spirit (Mark 3:29). The most recent modern work of art which has been deemed as blasphemous is that of American L.A native rapper The Game's new album titled Jesus Piece. It has been stylised to look like stained glass art, an art form which reached its prime during the middle ages where it was a major pictorial form used to illustrate the narratives of the bible to a largely illiterate populace. The controversy the stylised black Jesus on the album cover caused especially amongst Christians is remarkable. Whilst I personally feel that blasphemy is a subjective issue we have to ask the following question; where do we draw the line between freedom of expression and offensive material? It is an interesting topic indeed. If you want to read more on his topic here is the link http://paulnkhabu.wordpress.com/
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Piece
Christian theology condemns the act and some are deemed as unforgivable in the bible such as speaking ill of the holy spirit (Mark 3:29). The most recent modern work of art which has been deemed as blasphemous is that of American L.A native rapper The Game's new album titled Jesus Piece. It has been stylised to look like stained glass art, an art form which reached its prime during the middle ages where it was a major pictorial form used to illustrate the narratives of the bible to a largely illiterate populace. The controversy the stylised black Jesus on the album cover caused especially amongst Christians is remarkable. Whilst I personally feel that blasphemy is a subjective issue we have to ask the following question; where do we draw the line between freedom of expression and offensive material? It is an interesting topic indeed. If you want to read more on his topic here is the link http://paulnkhabu.wordpress.com/
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Piece
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