Penis on the Cross

What's the thin line between art and trash?

This was the question to come to your mind as the noise on Mideo Cruz's art installation at the Cultural Center of the Philippines escalated to a decibel so difficult to ignore. The picture of Christ The King painted to become similar to Mickey Mouse, the cross with a condom, Virgin Mary integrated with the basketball jocks and that cross with a phallus other men would indeed envy...

The Catholic church wages war against the installation art since, for them, it's something done with malice which could even be considered as blasphemous. Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales was quoted that the artist abused the so-called freedom of expression. Several Catholic lay groups have threatened to file charges against Mr. Cruz and the exhibition organizers, and one group called Pro-life Philippines has written a letter to the cultural center demanding that the exhibit be taken down (The Globe and Mail).

You wallow in art. At a very young age, you were exposed to the literati - Twain, Lewis, Dickinson, O Henry and your all-time favorite work of literature is Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. In college, you touched-base with your own heritage by reading Nick Joaquin, Jose Garcia Villa, Kerima Polotan and the contemporary prose of Danton Remoto and Jessica Zafra.

Visual arts also interest you. You tried to understand van Gogh's eccentricities and da Vinci's hidden stories. You tried to melt with the Renaissance art and got interested with cubism via Picasso and locally, Ang Kiukok... Yeah, there were goosebumps and you were transported to a different dimension. You were able to go to a deeper place.

And then you realized that your thoughts could be translated to performance. You were able to stage socially-relevant movements which made some audience cringe on their seats especially those contemporary dances on violence against women and child abuse... Yes, you know how to make others happy and uncomfortable...

But, you understand your limitations. You're a member of a society where norms must be set. As what Eric Gancho (of YANO) said: There is only freedom to do good, other than that, it would be something else.

So what is your take on Mideo Cruz's so-called art?

That's pure insult to the Catholic faith!

You were informed that Muslims place their Koran on a very special part of the house. Could you announce that you're having an artistic itch by capturing a photograph with a model pissing on it? Would it be performance art when someone holds the hip of a woman and starts pumping her back in an act of copulation while inside a Baptist church and the rest are singing praise and worship songs? What would be the INC's reaction when you crop a picture of Manalo and put a wooden penis on his mouth? Would there be ohhhhs and ahhhss as they experience bliss or discomfort due to a so-called "deep experience"?

When the artists grouped themselves and protected their kind by saying it's a constitutional right to express one's ideas, you agreed and begged to disagree for there are things better left unsaid. They even told the television audience that Cruz's art is his stand on idolatry among the Catholics.

You were born a Catholic, a devout one and leader of a Christian community. You recently bought an image of the Virgin of Mt. Carmel and placed it on an area of your place where it symbolizes your religious convictions. But it was never meant to be adored or idolized, It's a signal for every visitor that someone living here considers praying as part of his life. It's a constant reminder about the beliefs and values to be applied. You would be enraged if someone squirts semen on the face of the image and announce it's art!

You then remember snuff films and recently those uploaded videos of sexy women sitting on rabbits and puppies until they die. You remembered your brother gagging when he viewed a violent film showing a sadistic man blow-torching a woman's eye. Those pornographic materials showing a man peeing and defecating on a woman, and women inserting baseball bats in men's anuses. These are all twisted things which are happening. But do we have to highlight these in public through installations, films, songs and other forms of art? Could it change society's ills? Or could it lead towards the enhancement of perversion and the proliferation of criminal minds...

You need to dwell on things which could lead to cohesion, healing, peace and development. There are chasms and great divides happening among the families and societies... why not dwell on them and be a harbinger of positive change?

You could consider Mia Michael's choreography on addiction and how it eats the soul... But you could never dare look for a picture of someone's mother, rip the part of where her mouth is, place a wooden penis ,carve out the eyes and crown her head with the word WHORE on it.

(photo: AFP)