Piss Christ by Andres Serrano, 1989
"I am not a heretic. I like to believe that rather than destroy icons, I make new ones." -Serrano
A few years back in one of my art history courses I was introduced to Andres Serrano's Piss Christ. In short, he placed a crucifix in a receptacle of some sort, filled it with his own urine, then proceeded to take a photograph of it. This piece has been the object of much controversy, for obvious reasons. Here we are faced with the destruction of religious meaning and symbolism, degradation of a whole mass of followers and God's one and only son, among other things. My feelings remain almost indifferent -- mostly because I like to avoid religiously charged conversations and as an amateur art historian I've learned to respect and accept (for a limited amount of time) others' opinions -- and so I'd like to know what others think about this. We are the risk taking era, especially within the arts: Pollock's drips, Newman's zips, Marden's encaustic sticks, Oldenberg's and Christo's larger than life installations, International Yves Klein Blue, Janine Antoni's hair painting performance piece, and of course, human expulsions.
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