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Julian-Faylona — The God Machine
#alien #dark #deity #device #fiction #god #julian #macabre #machine #matte #mattepainting #painting #religion #science #surreal #weird #elementj21 #faylona
Published: 2015-08-27 17:02:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 31147; Favourites: 920; Downloads: 0
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Description
This piece reflects, in an abstract way, how I feel about religion in general these days. Most people, only think of God as some kind of cosmic vending machine or ATM. It's a Middle-Upper Class syndrome where people attribute financial or material acquisition as "blessings" from God. It's really amusing when I hear someone posting updates on their FB, thanking God for the new iPhone, their straight As, and what not. To the average faithful, God is reduced to some kind of a genie in a bottle who grants the wishes of worthy people. This is pretty much the same in any religion for as long as it believes in some kind of deity/deities.Anyway, this is not a bash on religion. But it's something to think about.
(PS: Some folks have been asking why I included Daoism there. Well, do read my comments on their queries and you'll find out why)
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Comments: 181
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Wait, I've commented once before, but now I have questions.
1. Why is there a big fetus in the background? Is that "god" or some kind of impersonal force? Is that a human creation that summarizes the idea of God or gods in general?
2. Why is blood coming out of the vending machines? Is that the fetus' blood? Are they eating it?
3. Why does the whole machine look both technical and organic? Was it built? Was it always there? Is it only crusted over because of age?
I enjoyed the image before but now I decided to look at it more critically because of a project at my school and ITS STARTING TO BLOW MY MIND JUST A BIT. So could you please explain?
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very interesting image. looks like a photograph. I could see thins being the front cover on a Pink Floyd album
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I love how much thought and meaning you put into this piece.
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Hey,
My name is Carl Perkins and I was wondering if I could have your permission to use this art piece in a personal blog of mine, Theologia (patrumtheologia.wordpress.com), under the post, "Dogmatic Exclusivity in a Modern Religious Landscape." I've been currently using a non-copyrighted photo, but this one caught my eye, and I can't express how thankful I would be to have your express permission to feature this image as the header. Naturally, you would be given full credit in the beginning of the article, and I would be happy to link my viewers to your DevianArt page.
Let me know!
C.R. Perkins
You can see the post in question, if you would like to skim through it at patrumtheologia.wordpress.com/…
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That's always made me a bit uncomfortable, when people attribute everything to God. Success or good fortune is a blessing and bad things are part of his plan... I dunno. I feel like that just doesn't work with 'free will', that even if some of it is (for some reason) kindness from above... the rest is just statistics in a world full of people who can and do choose to do bad (or foolish) things.
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Great work 
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An astute observation on our times; as well, a number of diverse Deists feel infallible dogmas are at the same time flexible enough to afford absolution of any old nastiness/greed, while continuing to enjoy fruits thereof, like this life means nothing where it's not concerning "the blessed ones". Beyond metaphysical hyperbole, your piece is a wonderful abstraction of such concepts and speaks many clear words by itself. Cheers!
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I had to read your comment several times to understand it. I love it!
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What an unusual comment also. To have someone who thinks and can actually explain every aspect of what they find enjoyable in a work is an extreme rarity in the app game, porn, alcohol or drug addicted populace. Congratulations on your successful mental development.
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what a profound comment! hats off to you!
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Hopefully religious people will take a closer look! Well done!
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A sad truth for some religious folks.
I myself am religious and try to keep from such a concept dominating my worship. Kind of nice (and sobering) to have something like this keep things in perspective.
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Nice
Though Ying and Yang have nothing to do with God or any such notion. They're a part of Daoism (or Taoism) which sees the universe as a self generating, organic happening, with no authoritarian power or doctrine, and certainly with no personified singular or plural Gods. It's probably the most naturalistic world view there is, so it kinda stand out to me in this image as being misplaced or outstanding.
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true Daoism doesn't believe in any gods and it's pure philosophy that is true... but so is Buddhism.
i've lived in East Asia all my life, and i can tell you that Daoism here is far different than what is being sold to the Western world. Daoism here believes in a pantheon of gods, demons, spirits, and spirtual/heavenly realms. they even conduct rituals, witchery, and the whole occult shebang. if you're very well acquainted with the Chinese New Year celebration, part of their ritual is to pray for good luck, fortune, prosperity and auspicious tidings. ever wonder why the number 8 is considered good luck in Chinese? coz 8 in Mandarin is "ba" which sound like "fa" which means Prosperity. these are all closely related to their gods, each offering different blessings, usually centered around money and fortune. and mind you these gods are treated literally as vending machines. hence why i put the symbol there.
in short, Daoism has evolved over time, intermingling with the animistic/shamanistic and pagan beliefs of the Orient. and according to this form of Daoism, we all pass through Hell in the afterlife. no one is exempt from it. there's no escaping it, and depending on the kind of life you lived here on earth, the tortures you will face may differ but they are all bloody and horrific. seriously look it up, it's nightmare fuel! LOL
from where i live now, this month is the Ghost Month, where spirits of the departed are released from Hell to roam the earth and find sustenance, and perhaps revisit loved ones still alive. the end of September usually marks the beginning of the Mid Autumn festival, also called the Mooncake Festival. oh seriously i can't wait! mooncakes are dope!
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Hahah lol
OK, first of all, thanks for the detailed reply. Glad to learn some of the things you wrote here.
I guess my misconception though was that the symbol of yin and yang specifically symbolizes the original philosophical ideas of Daoism.
Are there people who believe in the various gods and demons in China and still consider themselves Daoists? How would that be reconcileable with the writing in the book of Dao or Juang Tze's writings, where this is so blatantly not a daoist view of the world?
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yeah i know it's really weird. because the Dao De Ching mentions nothing of gods.
i tend to ask my Chinese friends as to why they call themselves Daoists when they adhere very little to Lao Zi's teachings. they just shrug off and say "i dunno". i guess it's a belief system that they've been born into, as passed down to their parents, from their ancestors. many don't question it and just accepts it as it is. to most of them, they regard Daoism as "Ancestral Worship". it explains as to why some Chinese put up images of their great grandparents on their altars at home, because it's part of their beliefs. if you watch the Disney cartoon, Mulan, you'll get what I mean. the part where the spirits of the departed gather around in the ancestral shrine, filled with black tablets, that is part of Daoist customs.
even Buddhism which is supposedly a godless world view, is split into 2 types, Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, both of which believes in a pantheon of gods and goddesses, often intermingling with the Daoist pantheon. it's really complicated. have you seen the temples in Thailand with the scary looking demons? yep, that's part of the Theravada sect. If you come to Malaysia or Philippines, then you have the Mahayana sect as majority. then you have Shinto Buddhists who have another set of pantheon. i'm not sure about the Koreans though, i think both the Japanese and Koreans are more ascetic in nature compared to the Southeast Asian ones.
the Chinese culture has more than 5000 years of history, it's no surprise how the collective of beliefs from different times and places would form the basis of their religions these days.
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Yea, this is really interesting.
I guess it serves a prime example of how things lose their original meaning with time, and authenticity is replaced by mimicry. Optimizations, the natural aspiration for the path of least resistance, it leaves all these philosophies, for the most part, a behavioristic tradition.
And so even in Japanese culture when you go to Zen monasteries, and Zen is kind of a marriage of the purest form of Daoism and of Buddihsm, you find that most of the practice revolves around discipline, most of the people there are not there by choice exactly, and this most peace, non dualistic, no effort way of life is being beaten (sometimes literally) into pupils. Quite absurd.
As far as I can tell, Buddihsm kinda piggy-backed, from a memetic standpoint, on Hinduism. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all of the more theistic aspects of Buddihsm are in fact Hindu, originally. Including the very basic concepts of Samsara and Atman.
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yes you are right! after all, Buddha himself hailed from India. only when Buddhism arrived to the Chinese kingdom, Buddha's depiction changed to the slant eyed dude we commonly recognize today. in fact no one really knows how Buddha actually looked like. i tend to imagine him as a fair Aryan from northern India. lol
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Yea, similarly to how Jesus is always depicted as this fair skinned, blue eyed European.
Dude, I'm FROM Israel. I know what the local gene-pool looks like. He was most likely Arab looking, same as the Hebrews, same as all the little sects and sub-cultures of this part of the world.
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I love this piece as I have had 3 near death experiences and have a kind of, this is always hard to explain but I kind of have an In with the Grim reaper. I know it sounds daft but I very often dream of this mythical figire and Terry Pratchetts books don't help...lol as Death is my favourite Character.
I like the idea in your piece of every one going through their own gate and what would be brilliant is if on the other side they all end up in the same room, as to me all the different religions pray to basicly the same deity with just a different name and a few tweeks to suit them. Like you I don't bash anyones choices but I don't want them pushed on me neither. Live and let live .
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true. i've been christian all my life, but i think that every religion recognizes a supreme being that governs the universe, only that they call it in different names, and worship differently. we can't live isolated on an island expecting our chosen religion as the Ultimate guide to life (lots of religions tend to monopolize this), but instead, see each one as facets of a jewel, that is beautiful to behold as a whole.
i often joke that everyone is going to be in for a surprise when they find out that everyone ends up in the same place regardless of their beliefs and non-beliefs. we are all humans after all, all these petty arguing and debates about whose religion is right or wrong is totally childish from a bigger perspective.
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Couldn't agree more, I was christened a Catholic but once I hit 14 I ditched it as both my Parents never went to church but made us go, and I kept getting kicked out of our Religious excersize lessons for asking awkward questions, like if God flooded the whole planet what happened to the red Indians, Aztec's, Maori's and Aborigine's, they were just getting on with their lives and because some people pissed him off God drowned all of them, I found that hard to believe.
The other thing is I don't think a loving and peaceful god of any kind would sit back and watch the atrocities done it it's name and it certainly wouldn't test people like Telling Abraham to sacrifice his son and then stopping him at the last moment, man that would really put me off..LOL.
Of course the usua largumet against Religion of any kind is how many poor souls have died in wars over it, so sad
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I'm glad you ask those questions. many don't. i used to accept religious teachings as they are, but until a few years back, i've began questioning religion itself.
there's nothing wrong with asking hard questions. i hate it when religion is regarded as answers that doesn't need questioning. it's just pure BS! and must we remember that even Jesus himself died in the hands of the local religious authority for questioning and challenging their world view.
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I love it. It looks like a scene from a movie or a book. I try to imagine what will happen next... Anyways, great work!
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This should have been the cover for Phinehas' album "The God Machine" ! Nice work
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Strange people, making a religion of santa claus... One can be different in his religion, and for me each one has his own beliefs. I know people making "positive science" to their freligion, with the dogma: what we cannot comprehend, does not exist. Some of them are quite fundamentalistic and always preaching...
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Nice. It reminds me of what an Anglican priest once said that people often treated going to church as an insurance policy. So long as they went through the motions every week, they'd be guaranteed entry to heaven.
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i agree with that. in fact a priest once said the same thing to me. people go to church because they are afraid to go to hell. the priest goes on to say that, "you can believe hell exists, but you don't have to believe that there's anyone there at all. we should let fear govern our lives and make it as excuse to do something out of coercion". those words changed my perception... that priest is an Irish who went to Asia for a mission. sadly he got cancer recently and is undergoing treatment. i do hope he's doing well!
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