The Proposal

For my proposal I decided to again expand my understanding of Overhead.

Overhead- Encompassing all things heavenly 

How do we interpret heavenly ideas and convert them into art?

For this project, I would have to look further into both my ideas about heaven and society’s usage of the term. For images, I looked to my visual library- found here

I decided to split my research into a couple different categories:

Heaven as something just outside of our comprehension

• Surrealism
• Dark spaces we cannot see into
• Clouds and sunsets
• Repetitive images and phrases

taipei glows under a blanket fog in these photos by wang wei zheng.

Many secular theories have called religion a means of explaining the unexplainable. In a modern world where most of these questions are answered- we can look to surrealism for the same mystery.

Does religion stem from a need to explain not just the surreal, but the horrible?

Heaven as a coping mechanism

• Respite from suffering
• ‘paradise’ imagery
• appeal to the poor and marginalized

Heaven as a concept is inherently appealing to those that socially and emotionally have not. Why is it then, that ‘righteousness’ and goodness follow money? Religious officials live lavishly. Beautiful church altars that cost astronomical amounts still drag in money in tourism. Heaven by nature is a business.

Sarah Lucas at Tramway, Glasgow

Heaven as something commercialized 

• “heavenly” imagery used to sell products
• Whatever it is, heaven is something desirable in some way
• Juxtaposition with grimier images of commercialism and modern life.

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