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Social Sharing
The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro
This sculpture, made from deconstructed guns and ammunition, also incorporates motifs from European cathedrals, a juxtaposition that draws attention to the historical connection between religious intolerance and warfare. This was particularly true during the medieval Crusades, religious wars that the Roman Catholic Church sanctioned to liberate Jerusalem from Islamic rule. Al Farrow believes that all of the world’s major religions have undermined their moral authority by claiming that “God is on their side” when waging war.Farrow’s cathedral is transformed into a memorial reliquary or shrine by the inclusion of a human spine in the nave and a human tooth—both belonging to the fictitious Santo Guerro (Saint War)—over the transept door. The spine, mounted for display, recalls that many European cathedrals were built with funds derived from the viewing of religious relics. Farrow’s bone-filled reliquaries suggest that it is neither religion nor the human soul that is eternal, but rather the instinct to make war.
- Artist
- Al Farrow (American, b. 1943)
- Title
- The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro
- Date
- 2007
- Object Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Steel, brass, gold, bone, fabric, tooth
- Dimensions
- 64 x 50 1/2 x 74 in. (162.6 x 128.3 x 188 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase, gift of Dr. Thomas Jackson and Dr. Kathleen Grant
- Accession Number
- 2008.10