Saint Louis University Museum of Art | Saint Louis University

Suspension of the Spirit

August 17, 2004 - December 1, 2004

"Arts initial task is to prepare a suitable environment for the expression of spirit."

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Suspension of the Spirit is an exhibition that examines the language and objects within the scripture and ritual of the Roman Catholic religion. Spirituality comes to all of society in many different ways and forms and we attain this spiritual level through many different avenues. Suspension of the Spirit looks specifically at the Eucharistic Service and also the language (poetry) within the Bible. You, the viewer, become an object that moves between these two mediums of religious mechanism. The items are presented in such a way as to allow the viewer to be physically placed between language and object. This isolation between object and language allows the viewer to realize that spirituality comes from within and the language and objects on display are supportive tools in reaching a spiritual self.

"Poetry is as a consequence the truly universal art - free to give symbolic, classical, or romantic expression to all that is capable of entering the imagination, since its medium is the imagination itself."

Hegel

Language and the words used in the Eucharistic Service or Mass, verses in the Bible and prayers are placed on the walls creating paintings of text. The language used creates visual scenes such as a narrative painting creating a visual experience that requires the viewer's imagination to develop the image. The text on the wall also becomes markings similar to hieroglyphs; the communication becomes a visual display of drawn lines and marks creating a visual space. The language is presented in Latin and in English; the dominant factor in determining which language was used is the function of the language and who is to use the words. The words in Latin, used by the Priest, become visual markings on the wall that create an image that is similar to an abstract painting. Similar to art, those who are educated within the context of its language can understand what is being presented and those who may not know the history or language enters the work as a pure visual presentation. The passages from the Bible and the Stations of the Cross are in English. This allows the viewer or follower the ability to participate within the language presented.

"Works if independent architecture usually mark a place of assembly, and almost invariably symbolize the highest values that unite a people."

Hegel

The objects on display are pieces within the Eucharistic Service. The curtains, used throughout the exhibition and repeated throughout the Bible are used as visual tools to develop the stories or poetry within the Bible. In the Northeast gallery, the monstrance from the "old College Church" that was designed circa 1800- 1840 in Italy, along with the host or the body of Christ is placed in a side chapel for parishioners to gather and be in the presence of Christ and have a place for private prayer when the service is not being conducted.

Saint Louis University used the small white marble altar stone, used in this exhibition in the Northeast Gallery, for outdoor masses. The altar stone, with five crosses or stigmata's indicating the areas where Jesus was nailed or cut with a sword during His crucifixion, also has a plug placed into the stone with a relic of a saint. Once placed into the altar, the priest consecrates the altar and stone and creeds the altar sacred and thus a sacred place of worship. The altar stone became necessary in the New World because the altars in Europe were always placed on a saint's burial site. Since the New World did not have local saints, pieces of saints or relics were brought to the new sacred sites from Europe.

Both altars are original and have historical significance to Saint Louis University and the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. The original altar from College Church at 9th Street and Washington Avenue is located in the East Gallery. After much searching, a section of the altar was found in the tabernacle on which the craftsman of the altar, Johannes Hutton, penciled in his name. The date of January 1826 and the country of origin, the Netherlands was also included. In the West Gallery, is the original altar from St. Stanislaus Seminary that was in Florissant, Missouri. The Jesuit Brothers of the seminary built this altar in 1840 and the Saint Louis University Museum of Art fully restored the altar in 2002. The contrast between the two, one restored and one not, represents the shift from revered and utilitarian sacred tool once used in the sacraments to a historical object. These objects both have the importance to the religion and also the potential to be used again. The altars have become non-functional due to the contemporary times and traditions.

As the viewer moves through Suspension of the Spirit they walk between the objects and language that support and allow the parishioner to attain a spiritual self.

-Nanette E. Boileau, Former Curator