Not without humor on a close reading!<br>_______________________________________________________<br><br><div class="cnnWideImage">
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<font size="6"><b>Artist Sebastian Errazuriz says he wants "Christian Popsicles" to spark dialogue about fanaticism and violence.</b></font></div> </div>
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May 17th, 2012 </div>
<div class="cnnGryTmeStmp">05:24 PM ET</div>
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<h1 class="cnnBlogContentTitle"><a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/17/artist-wants-jesus-popsicles-to-stand-as-statement-on-fanaticism-violence/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link:Artist wants Jesus Popsicles to stand as statement on fanaticism, violence">Artist wants Jesus Popsicles to stand as statement on fanaticism, violence</a></h1>
<p class="cnn_first">By <strong>Eliott C. McLaughlin</strong>, CNN</p>
<p><strong>(CNN)–</strong>Sebastian Errazuriz has <a href="http://meetsebastian.com/index.php?seccion=1">used art to take on an array of issues</a>:
New York's death rate, the Occupy movement, military suicide, children
with disabilities, the brutal reign of Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet. Now, the Brooklyn-based artist is taking aim at what he sees
as religious extremism.</p>
<p>At a party this weekend celebrating New York Design Week, <a href="http://core77.com/nydesignweek/" target="_blank">which begins today</a>,
the Chilean-born artist plans to hand out 100 "Christian Popsicles"
made of "frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ" and
featuring a crucifix instead the tongue depressor that typically hosts
the frozen treats, he said.</p>
<p>An image of Jesus Christ positioned traditionally on the cross is
visible once the ice pop is consumed. As for the frozen wine, Errazuriz
said, he concealed it in a cooler and took it into a church, where it
was "inadvertently blessed by the priest while turning wine into the
blood of Christ during the Eucharist."</p>
<p>Errazuriz will hand out the wine creations on Saturday at Gallery
R'Pure in Manhattan's Flatiron District before the "Love It or Leave it"
exhibit.</p>
<p><span id="more-29450"></span>According to Gallery R'Pure, 10 artists are taking part in the exhibit, which asks attendees "to revisit the <a href="http://www.galleryrpure.com/upcomingevent.html" target="_blank">objects and symbols that have forged the American landscape</a> through the eyes of their creators."</p>
<p><a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/">CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories</a></p>
<p>"Each piece is a personal interpretation of some aspect of American
life, be it celebratory, critical or simply observational. The
exhibition intends to question what the American life is, whether real
or perceived," according to a news release from the gallery.</p>
<p>Other installments include a briefcase used to address obesity in
America, a white picket fence intended as a statement on the American
Dream and a "MTA chair" representing the loss of New York's old wooden
subway benches.</p>
<p>While many of the pieces are provocative, none is quite so controversial as Jesus on a Popsicle stick. <a href="http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/17/american-kills-public-art-highlights-military-suicide/">No stranger to controversy</a>, Errazuriz said his intention isn't to upset people.</p>
<p>"It's not that I purposely want to get in trouble. I just believe if
you are not doing work that can make people stop, think and discuss,
then it's better not to make any work at all," he said.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width:280px"><img title="Jesus Popsicle" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120517085756-jesus-popsicles-2-vertical-gallery.jpg" alt="" height="360" width="270"><p class="wp-caption-text">
Once consumed, the Popsicle features Jesus positioned traditionally on the cross.</p></div>
<p>Raised in a Catholic household, Errazuriz is now a "practicing
atheist," but he has many friends and family members who are religious,
and he respects their beliefs. He has always been vexed by religion,
however, particularly the practitioners who wish to force their beliefs
on others.</p>
<p>"(I'm) more than happy to recommend that thinking for ourselves and
questioning the realities we received from previous generations can be
incredibly liberating," he said.</p>
<p>Today, he feels that America is growing more extreme in its dogma,
which is "holding a growing influence over American politics." He is
especially unnerved by demands that U.S. leaders "publicly profess their
faith in their god and enforce laws that defend the ideology of the
Bible over individual liberties," he said.</p>
<p>His frozen cocktails stand as a symbol, he said, an invitation to
"drink the Kool-Aid" that he feels so many religious zealots are
stirring up. He hopes the Popsicles will remind the gallery's visitors
to take their religions - whatever they may be - a little less
seriously.</p>
<p>The United States is "rightly worried" about the threat of Islamic
fanaticism, but Errazuriz wants to remind people that extremism is never
acceptable, regardless of religion.</p>
<p>"In the land of the free, it's everyone's responsibility to make sure
no one will ever force their beliefs on to others," Errazuriz said.</p>
<p>He pointed to the Ku Klux Klan, which decades ago was "a functioning,
dominant political force in American society which identified (itself)
as a Christian organization, carrying out ‘God’s work,’ branding the
flaming cross as (its) symbol," he said.</p>
<p>Errazuriz wants his "Christian Popsicles," which will be stained red
by the wine after their consumption, to signify the relationship between
fanaticism and historic religious violence.</p>
<p>He also has hopes that the sticks "will prove Christians can take a
little humor and irony - always a healthy indicator that might be harder
to find amongst religious fanatics of other religions."</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br>