Reverend Billy 'exorcises' BP while The Tree of Life finds some spiritual support
Reverend Billy rounds on BP
In these days of insurrection it seems that no institution is safe from assault. Take oil giant BP, which for the past two decades has been blithely offsetting its business practises by bankrolling exhibitions at London's Tate Modern ? only for "Reverend Billy" to come and desecrate the deal. On Monday evening the Rev (a New York-based activist in the guise of a hellfire Pentecostal preacher) stormed into Turbine Hall to perform an exorcism. "BP money is the devil!" he bellowed. "The destroyer of the Gulf of Mexico cannot be sponsoring the Mir� exhibit!"
Egged on by a gospel choir, Reverend Billy, below, duly anointed himself in oil and then rubbed his head against the information board. "For 20 long years, BP has embedded its foulness deep within the Tate, using the fair face of the arts to mask the stench of its true nature," he explained. "Today the possession of this dark beast . . . is coming to an end."
Exorcism complete, Reverend Billy led his apostles into the evening sunshine. But did he leave the devil behind as well? "BP is one of the most important sponsors of the arts in the UK," Tate Modern said in a statement. Despite all the singing, smearing and threats of damnation, there are currently no plans to send it back from whence it came.
US Christians loving The Tree of Life
Sticking with the biblical theme, the Diary wonders whether Fox Searchlight might be missing a trick with The Tree of Life. Terrence Malick's rapturous US drama was booed at Cannes and has gone on to spark hoots of derisive laughter at London's hipper cinemas. Is it playing to the wrong congregation? In the US, theologians are belatedly rushing to hail its Christian credentials. It is, says Jay Michaelson of Religious Dispatches, a "very Catholic film". Rabbi David Wolpe (writing in the Huffington Post) claims that "in reworking Job for the 21st-century, [Malick] teaches us anew the grandeur of the world and the grandeur of God".
Few doubt the Christian market can be lucrative. But where Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ grossed $611m (�377m) at the global box office, The Tree of Life is bottoming out around the $40m (�25m) mark. The problem, suggests Sight and Sound editor Nick James, is that no one knows how to market it. "It's not blatant like The Passion; it's more an exploration of religious themes," James says. "It trades in the language of normal romantic spirituality: lots of kitsch rainbows and waterfalls. That's likely to appeal to a wider audience ? if you can only get them through the door."
Design your own folly
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, offers 500 acres of forest, lake and moorland. All that's missing, in fact, is an outlandish free-standing structure built to your own specifications. This weekend artist Emily Speed will be leading guests through the grounds before inviting them to design their own "fantastical folly" using recycled materials. Build it yourself, with no taint of corporate sponsorship, to avoid a sudden visit from an outraged Reverend Billy.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jul/19/arts-diary-bp-tate-malick
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