![Paul Eugene, Gospel Aerobics with Paul Eugene, ca. 2005-2008 
MEDIUM RELIGION AT ZKM
I loved Jesus Camp, I loved The Eyes of Tammy Faye, I even sort of loved this awful documentary called Devil’s Playground, about Amish teens who, instead of getting bat mitzvahed, go out into the world and enjoy modern technologies for a year. I love the writings and theories of Emile Durkheim and Walter Benjamin, the former for his take on religion and the latter for his take on technology.
And, so, if I were in Germany I would go see this exhibition, “Medium Religion” at the ZKM Center for Art and Media and I’m fairly sure I would love it too. It takes the various elements that make all of these things fascinating—ritual, religion, insane religious fervor, but mostly the ways in which technology and other modern luxuries transform religion—and puts them all in one place. I think a lot of people could probably stand to benefit from being asked to think critically about the ways in which technology is infiltrating different aspects of their lives and to what effects.
thanks to Rhizome.org for keeping me up to date on these important things
——
from the exhibition website:
Today’s religious movements operate predominantly with images that can be spread across the entire world in a flash by means of contemporary mass media. The electronic picture media video and television have become the chosen media for religious propaganda as they are capable of being produced and distributed especially fast.
[ …]
The exhibition “Medium Religion” thus provides comprehensive insight into the medial reproduction and significance of religion, in particular, its manifestations in geopolitical hotspots, such as the Middle East, Asia, Russia, the U.S., and South America.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/7UTv246zLgw2xsi8oOiQjDqjo1_500.png)
Paul Eugene, Gospel Aerobics with Paul Eugene, ca. 2005-2008
MEDIUM RELIGION AT ZKM
I loved Jesus Camp, I loved The Eyes of Tammy Faye, I even sort of loved this awful documentary called Devil’s Playground, about Amish teens who, instead of getting bat mitzvahed, go out into the world and enjoy modern technologies for a year. I love the writings and theories of Emile Durkheim and Walter Benjamin, the former for his take on religion and the latter for his take on technology.
And, so, if I were in Germany I would go see this exhibition, “Medium Religion” at the ZKM Center for Art and Media and I’m fairly sure I would love it too. It takes the various elements that make all of these things fascinating—ritual, religion, insane religious fervor, but mostly the ways in which technology and other modern luxuries transform religion—and puts them all in one place. I think a lot of people could probably stand to benefit from being asked to think critically about the ways in which technology is infiltrating different aspects of their lives and to what effects.
thanks to Rhizome.org for keeping me up to date on these important things
——
from the exhibition website:
Today’s religious movements operate predominantly with images that can be spread across the entire world in a flash by means of contemporary mass media. The electronic picture media video and television have become the chosen media for religious propaganda as they are capable of being produced and distributed especially fast.
[ …]
The exhibition “Medium Religion” thus provides comprehensive insight into the medial reproduction and significance of religion, in particular, its manifestations in geopolitical hotspots, such as the Middle East, Asia, Russia, the U.S., and South America.
