Wire coat hangers are not just for dry cleaners and garage sales anymore – they’re also for modern art. This sculpture, which depicts Jesus screaming in agony on the cross, has been put on display at Southwark Cathedral in the United Kingdom. The sculptor, Tuner prize nominee David Mach, has called the piece “Die Harder.“
It is made out of 3,000 wire coat hangers with many of the hooks straightened so they jut out of the body at sharp and odd angles, serving to intensify the sense of pain that the figure – who doesn’t look an awful like traditional depictions of Jesus Christ – appears to be in.
Mr. Mach is a Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools, London, where he has served since 2000. He has used his coat hanger form of sculpture in other pieces that depict anything from astronauts to gorillas. Die Harder was commissioned for the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible in 2011.
Mr Mach said: ‘The figure of Christ is in pain and anguish pierced by thousands of spears, that single body acting as a conduit for all the cares and the woes.’
And how.
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Andrew Reeves writes the Morning Cable (and other stuff) for Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter at @reevesreport.
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