Thursday, April 27, 2006

EtS Station 3 - the temple

The Temple
(spiritual justice)

the temple scene was perhaps the most 'spectacular' of the stations. Its ability to attract and capture the imagingation of people was added to because the room was a throughfare of sorts.

the room was a lounge type room, and the first you enter as when coming to the cottage. We intentionally directed people away from this station and into the anoiting and woe stations first.

One side of the room was asymmetrical, so black plastic was used to partiton part of a wall to make the room mostly square and thus more intimate.

Gold cloth was draped from the window catching the suns rays and giving a somewhat 'majestic' feel at certain times of the day. The main wall was projected with a city-scape of people doing what they do in the city. Walking; talking; commuting; buses; cars; trains; people - people - and more people! Orignially we were going to create a clip of a busy market scene, but in the end a tallented resident artist put together this city-scape, capturing the hub & vibe of the city. This film was played 'sped-up' to increase the intensity.


The Lament by Tanya Sparke was played as a sound track on repeat. this haunting piece of music moves through several octaves over 7 mins as a continuous vocal ascension.

the following words of instruction and reflection were left to provoke thought...


the Temple

(spiritual justice)


Jesus was compelled to act when he entered the Temple. The temple system created several levels of transactions: exchanging roman currency for temple currency; the buying of animal sacrifices; the offering of the sacrifice to the priest for inspection. Jesus saw the potential for abuse, indeed, perhaps it was the abuse or corruption that he reacted to. The Temple was the spiritual centrepiece of Israel’s faith. Jesus’ actions called the Temple system and its leadership into account when some seemed to exploit the people.

This angry Jesus raged in the temple because the faith of Israel and the spirituality and vulnerability of people were being exploited and corrupted.

This is the journey of the cross: solidarity… justice… respect… integrity


from the main wall into the centre of the room was the temple scene: with overturned/smashed up tables; feathers; coins; smashed pots & terricotta. the backdrop was lined with red cloth and backlit (this was underneath the projected images).


one of the tables was a mosaic tilled coffee table and lay on its side. Infont of the table lay a hammer with the words:

Hammer :
Pick up the hammer and smash a tile on the table as an expression of standing for justice, equality, and spiritual honesty.


next to the table was a bowl of chocolate coins with the following invitation:

Chocolate Coin:
What are the systems of abuse and oppression Jesus would turn over today?
Take a chocolate coin for the times that you (knowingly or unknowingly) enter into systems of abuse and oppression.

the reaction & response to the temple scene was strong:
some people could just not bring themselves to pick up the hammer and smash the table, and thus 'enter into the destruction'. Others found it an incredibly useful and valuable tool to symbolise participation in a just faith. Others simply found it visually appealing and evocative.


posted by dw at 2:29 PM

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