The story behind these two sculptures, and their dynamic with the public, and the rationales behind depicting Jesus in one form and then another is as thought provoking as any work of academic conceptual sculpture. What does the church achieve by creating such a spectacle in a location visible from a busy highway? What are the implications of spending so much money on a sculpture like this — is it an important act of proselytization or an example of misdirected resources? Was it indeed an act of god that the first statue was struck by lightning and burnt to the ground, and if so, then what was god trying to tell us? What prompted the church officials to sculpt the second sculpture to reach out rather than up — how does this change the sculpture’s message? Obviously, the meaning of the three-story Jesus sculpture is subjectively determined by the viewer’s religious persuasion and past experience, but regardless of the viewer’s interpretation, the sculpture’s scale commands attention and provokes a litany of questions. What significance do read into the sculpture and its story? If you send a response to me by email I’ll add it to this post.
Read more:
USA Today article on the fateful lightning strike incident.
Cincinnati.com article on the new sculpture.
CNN article on the new sculpture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZ3d1tTbWg