Aequitas |
God Is
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TEA AND TOAST
Artists - Aequitas [A Collaboration]
In the Museum of Virtual Art, New Caerleon
Classical Virtual Art from the 1980s and 1990s and the art of SL and other virtual worlds. Exhibits by the finest artists in SL. New Caerleon.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Caerleon/231/107/294
THE INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION BEHIND TEA and TOAST -
It is not a direct definition of what God is to us, it is more of an analogy of the universal spirit behind the divine. We believe it to be quite simple, uncluttered, and uncomplicated. It is the sense of the Divine with very human faces sitting at the table.
The themes behind the desert imagery and the tea table are biblical and cultural references: tea cultures, ancient cultures, zen, Paul Bowles and the song Tea in the Sahara by The Police.
The initial idea was God as toast. Toast, the ultimate comfort food and bread, "the staff of life." From there the symbolism and imagery developed into a tea table set in the middle of open desert. At first, we simply built from intuition. It wasnt until after the table was finished the symbolism became clear to us, some of it biblical and others cultural. One of us was raised Roman Catholic and went to a parochial school as a child and teenager. The other brought up Protestant. Those influences permeates our views but it in no way confines them to any Christian idea of God.
In the ancient middle eastern cultures, in fact many old cultures worldwide, hospitality was very important, especially in harsher climes. The law of hospitality was a sacred obligation. Although the popular Christian views interprets the story Sodom and Gomorrah as showing God's disfavor with homosexuality, for many biblical scholars the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was a violation of this ancient code of compassion for travelers and wanderers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah
The Law of Hospitality is part of a old code of ethics; an unwritten law of many old cultures. The old code demands that a host may not turn away a guest or any stranger in need. To accept a guest binds the guest and the host in a contract: the host must provide his guest with food, shelter, and protection, all the best his house can offer. In return the guest should be courteous and respectful of his host.
The idea of "breaking bread" and sharing drink is still virtually universal as a gesture of welcome and hospitality in the modern era. And we celebrate holidays, the end of life, marriage special days and events with friends and family sharing food and drink in profusion.
TEA: For many cultures, the taking of tea is ritualized. There isn't a country that doesn't have it's own tea culture ranging from the very simple act of drinking to complex ceremonies. Again, within the tea culture, sharing in this ritual is the oldest and simplest way of connecting with family, friends or even strangers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_culture
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The importance of the bee in history and in world culture -- as representative of food and for it's social qualities is well documented throughout history. The bee also represents the importance of symbiotic relationships. We are all interconnected and dependent on each other. In ancient texts, there is mention of the end to the world with the passing of the bee. Something so small and insignificant we take for granted. Again, too, there is the superfluous biblical reference to milk and honey as symbolic of plenty -- enough to share. (More importantly, what is hot tea without honey and milk?)
I see the tea table in the desert wilderness as the present - equal seating. The singular act of sharing, a simple act of kindness, an offering of compassion in a severe setting that often would death to the unprepared or the unwary. The setting is very much in the now, in the moment. No past, no future -- just the here and now.
"A black star appears, a point of darkness in the night sky's clarity. Point of darkness and gateway to repose. Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose. "
PAUL BOWLES - The Sheltering Sky
"They would wait for him here
The same place every year
Beneath the sheltering sky
Across the desert he would fly
Tea in the Sahara with you"
THE POLICE - Tea In The Sahara