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GothicNarcissus — The Cross Is The New Black
Published: 2012-07-02 13:56:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 1199; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 16
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New analog photos taken by Massimo Caregnato, this time with a Lomography DianaF+ on Lomography B/W 400 ISO film. More are coming soon!About the title: some time ago, my friend Knajfer and I had a discussion with a certain catholic girl here on deviantART who claimed, among many other dubious stuff, that not believing in her god is a “philosphical trend”. Which is, like, disregarding a different opinion than hers as something meaningless that people do for some time because it’s cool.
Well, if being an agnostic or an atheist is a trend, then christendom is most definitely the new black. I mean, you can wear it on all social occasions, lace it with anything you want to make it look cooler (even science, if you’re daring enough), turn it inside out if you see your argument is getting worn-out, easily hide the stitchings when you readjust it for the new season (with councils) and it’s so elegant it puts you in the position of judging other people’s “fashion” sense.
Oh, not to mention it was tailored by an intelligent(?) designer: whoa, now that’s some haute couture! Hence the idea of a fashion-like pose by the cross.
In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m deliberately being polemical. The fact is, although I do consider myself an agnostic, that conversation pushed me even further towards atheism: what I’ve been reading for several months makes no sense and does not match the reality I see. And the more I look into the world, the more I’m convinced that if there is a design behind the universe, it’s anything but intelligent, to begin with.
Taken in Sant’Anna Cemetery, Trieste.
Photo: massimocare
Model, styling, grooming: GothicNarcissus
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Comments: 24
io non m'impiccio nella discussione ^^ ma volevo dire che la foto postata qui è veramente bellissima! not to mention the little numbers that appear in the sky next to you. Analogue rulez!
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Eh, ci sto facendo un pensierino anche io, ora, sull'analogico. XD
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Great Title! And I love the vintage look to this, very cool, as always~
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On the other hand, not very related with your work, I smiled when you said "That conversation pushed me even further towards atheism". I guess, for an agnostic this is somehow inevitable, but I smiled more because it reminds me about a very common joke about atheists (I guess you heard it): "I once wanted to be an atheist and, well, I tried and, very quickly, I´ve quit . Not because they have no holidays, like most peoples think, but because I discovered I have too many gods to afford to ignore them all. One of them, of course, was Me!" ^^ (true story, but nobody wants to recognize it)
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Whoa, that's brilliant! XD
You know, I don't think I will ever truly be an atheist because I still like to think there are "things" that go beyond what we can see. But I know that if that were the case, men could not fully understand them anyways, let alone make a religion out of it.
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Well, Ale, search deep in your environments and see: this is exactly the main "genesis" of any religion: WHEN a human CANNOT understand something MAKES a RELIGION out of that something. Remember here the Egyptians with their RA. Some races out there are still worshiping the SUN, as very powerful deity. And there are also things we cannot understand and are developed into some other kind of religion. Remember the OZN and how many peoples are practically obsessed by them. Some are so obsessed that they do worship the aliens and they do want them on earth. Now it may sound crazy, but is also true. Humans are making a religion out of anything, especially if they do not understand. But, in my opinion, the most dangerous religion, no matter if the main god is really in a some sort of bible or not, is the religion born OUT OF LOVE.
Ok, when we love something too much we fall into fanatical manners and tend to build our life around that something. When that something turns out to be a person (alive or dead, doesn´t matter), we do the same, but on an upper level. Remember again Egyptians with their cats and Serpens and bugs and whatever (they had also so may things, made by hand, they did worshiped) and move the point into our days and think on money or the pope or whatever object or person you might find important for you and tell me this is not a religious way. It is. Some peoples are gods for others. We might not make them a bible but we do "RAISE" them into some sort of saintliness beyond the reality.
I´m the main example, with the differences that I´m not a fanatic: You´re one of my forever angels or so I love to call you since some time. You were Astaroth for me since almost from the beginning. Well I may not consider you a god, but I did "RAISED" you up there for a reason or more.
Now, the same happens when we care to a friend. there are friends and friends and some are "RAISED" to a particular status: we care for them more, we see them different.
But some persons are turning this into fanatism and for some persons the main idea of giving another status is changing and start to develop something very dangerous. There are peoples who are RAISED so much on an upper status that they became idols for an entire nation and religious models and I would quote here the name of MOHAMED the prophet for millions and millions of Muslims. See? this is the mechanism of a religion.
We tend to give a very important place to those persons that mean something, but if we worship that person too much, we turn into fanatism and the main love is changing into religion. A religion we dare to give to our children. Eh, this we do not understand, yet, it is a fact. We can make a religion out of anything and make a saint out of anybody.
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The design of this Universe is very intelligent, very well constructed, if I may say so, and is almost perfect. Works without error since the beginning and it will work this way with or without the help of anybody and any god or whatever out there. I´ve always was amazed by the power of this Universe. Not recognizing its beauty is like saying it doesn´t exist. The most wonderful part is, in my opinion, that this Universe is "kindly" removing every single obstacle in its way. When man interferes, nature rebuilds by its own law independently of any other wish of the humanity or divinity or, who knows what else might be. The particles, molecules and all their kind will never follow other "fashion". Black or White, Holly or not, this Universe is too old and to complex to be "inserted" into theorems, dogmas, doctrines, calculations, interpretations, axiomatic integration and all their "relatives". And I think this is the beauty of it. Is a piece of art and, like any other piece of art, can be viewed by any angle, understood from N+1 points, but it has its own integrity that cannot be either stolen, either modified. I think when peoples will really realize this will also realize what is this all thing with God and the Devil, with Good and Bad, with Believing in a given or not-given Existence. The "TO BE" status is a sine quam non condition, one which we all follow even if we are aware of it even if we don´t. Pieces of the same Universe, humans cannot surpass this no matter what they do or think, no matter if this world will end or not and the relativity of some terms, as God et Compania, will never influence the only condition this Universe knows: TO BE.
The photo is very well done, very cleaver, I must felicitate you both for the idea and its representation. Looks kind of ordinary at a first glance, I guess a trip inside the whole meaning is needed to actually understand it. The suggestive pose, as well as your almost fake and devilish smile, under a huge cross, which seam to be carried (like Jesus did?) on the back are, no doubt, the main condiments here. I must admit that if this photo would have been taken with a reflex camera it would have lost almost all its beauty. I just love the ghostly effect, an illusion, and reminds me of a Romanian song, called "My Angel committed suicide", which says, at one point: "Daemons costumed as Angels are ruling the Spirit."
And, of course, the background from that cemetery really looks like a tiny universe itself, which makes the model look like some kind of ruler (miss positioned as an unholy god) "giving" something which doesn´t own or invented.
Wonderful, Ale! Thank you for sharing!
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I agree with you. The Universe simply is. It has its own set of laws that make everything work, but that's it. A "design" of any kind does not only require a functioning, but always implies a purpose (as nothing is designed without it), which the Universe clearly lacks. It simply is for no other "purpose" than being. Which is something that clearly diverges from what any of the given religions we have says. Now, provided that YHWH made us into his own image - which I was explained multiple times that it was about the "frame of mind" and "way of thinking" when, as a child, I objeted to religious people that it meant he was anthropomorphic like any other deity in the world - this universe clearly trascends out way of thinking, therefore his own too. Plus, the way things work is clearly not "intelligent" in our own way of intending it. Or, to say it better, it is in the way it exists, it made itself, but it wouldn't if it were made by someone: what's intelligent about the "designer" creating a biological system that relies on the mutual death of individuals, just to mention one? Nothing.
Not to mention that the whole history, span and functioning of Earth's biology is totally meaningless if compared to the age of the universe, its dimentions and other kinds of events that take place in it, such as supernovae, formation of the stars, whole galaxy cores being swallowed by blackholes... it's simply bigger than us and any deity we might conceive.
I know it's very fashionable not to see that because imagining that everything serves for a purpose that's useful to us and is much more comfort than admitting that our lives have technically no purpose at all (if seen outside of what we can make of it within our own species), but when such form of consolation goes out of hand and starts infringing other people's rights, well, that's not fashionable anymore...
Anyways, I think you're right in saying that the universe is Art (indeed, when I was a kid I wanted to be an astronomer; and then I found out it was because of the aesthetic beauty of what's up there). And like a certain someone said, all art is quite useless (if seen from our extremely small frame of mind).
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I wasn´t talking about any designer, but about the design of the universe. Not the one gave by religious books or whatever else, but the way this universe is, a chaotic mass changing constantly and following an inner way of being. That I consider intelligent. Because, you see? I have a frame of thinking too. I cannot tell exactly how the entire universe was born (I guess nobody really knows), but, from what I am right now, I see this is the main pretext for any religion to build its dogmas. The mutual death is present anywhere, not only on Earth. This is not reduced only on individuals, as you already pointed, but OUR religion is avoiding to mention this (this and many other things) and we already know why.
I´m not sure we are so meaningless, though. I truly believe that if a planet will disappear, for a while, the entire system will suffer and will start to change, in its own way, to cover this the best way possible. The recovery won´t generate another universe, but the universe won´t be the same either. This is a truism. I understood your point of view, but your point of view is exactly the "match" of the religious believes. The fact that we´re small and powerless (and we know it) is a reason more for some fanatics to speculate and to use this...weakness for their own purposes, which, for now, have nothing to do with this universe, but with some sort of neat control. And, of course, when you keep a dog inside the house for almost all his life, if somebody wants to take him out won´t succeed to easy. This is the main mechanism. So, no wonder that, some peoples cannot see beyond the curtain of the sky. They only see how tiny they are and what nature can do on a certain point, they need a hope and the dream too much, they need to know their life is not in vain, so, yep, they won´t calculate and they won´t think that maybe this universe is a stand alone one and keeps its own guards depending on how every single particle develops in time, not depending on what some illusory god might want. And all this is a human system, not made by universe, but by humans. Because stars and the rest may not be controlled (now I´m laughing because of so many american movies when the main hero is really able to avoid the cataclysm of the earth moving an entire star away from it with bomb!!!^^), but humans (some humans) must know they are. Oh by who? Well by a God! Really? Oh and the doubt is a very mighty tool which can be manipulated for the wanted effects very well, so yeah, the way they think they can control is not intelligent, but is based on the same sine qua non condition: to be. They want to be. Rulers to be. Above to be, if you allow me to use these expression for suggesting some sort of limitation.
Yes, some things do serve to a purpose (generally speaking), but not everything, but this doesn´t mean the peoples rights are counting somewhere. Oh no, never. This thing with rights is, like Gaga would say, Bubble dreams. They are not respected by anybody, anywhere. Ah, it might be here and there some very pitiful humans who cannot harm, but they are isolated cases, usually alone and with many more around who want to finish them quickly. So, when the human is the your main enemy as human, what´s left out there? Is tricky. Is like when you drink to forget painful thinks and you end up by forgetting you´re drinking too much.
But the universe has nothing to do with all these. The universe is brilliant, wonderful, silent and forever.
I never loved Oscar for these particular words and I never agreed with him. I don´t know about others, but , for me, art is not useless at all. You said with your own words too: a design needs a purpose. the existence of a purpose is erasing the futility of everything. Something, if wanted to be used, is used anyway, no matter for what purpose was designed from the first place. Even a broken thing, can be used, even a very tiny one. Art, well art is like this universe: too big not to be seen, too complex to be caught up is some interpretations or rules, too beautiful not to be admired, and, yes, I would dare to say, art is also too useful not to be ignored. Art is part of what makes us be like we are on a certain point of our travel. It has a very strong impact on us to say that, for our pathetic lifes, means nothing and has no use at all. For the entire universe, what we call art I guess is just a spark, but, from here...what a spark!!!!
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I'm not the first, but when I blinked this pic my first thought was: OMG. Van Helsing♥
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Looks like a still shot from Van Helsing! Lol awesome
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I love that movie...
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No worries
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