Electronic Temple 2006
Description of the electronic temple
Artist: Zhan Wang
Artwork’s title: Electronic Temple
Material: Stainless steel, touch screen, electronic software, projector and heat insulation
Size: 600x520x520cm
Year: 2006
Location: Shanghai Zhang Jiang Industrial Area Zhang Jiang Electronic Harbor
We all know that ancient people no matter if they lived in villages or towns, they all needed to have a worship place. This is a necessary element at the basis of a civilized way of life. But new social areas sometimes cannot satisfy this demand: one or two chapels and temples are certainly not enough to satisfy the requests of different religious communities living in the same international area. “Electronic Temple” is an original solution for this issue.
With the aid of contemporary electronic software the piece “Electronic Temple” gathers the world’s largest religions in the same program, and through the use of a touch screen, religious believers can search for their own deity. By touching the screen there will appear the image of the requested deity, and at the same time images of the same deity will be projected on the walls of the structure hosting this work. No matter in which religion people believe, anyone will find his-her own deity in this device and will have the opportunity to worship and pray his-her own deity on the spot. The images of the different deities appear as soon as people look for them, are momentary, but conform to the high speed rhythm of the life of modern people and at the same time represent another form of existence for deities. The use of a neutral material like the stainless steel employed for space storehouses with which the exterior of this temple is designed is aimed at letting people of different religions enter this structure without any hinders.
Note:
By accepting this way of worshipping deities, we accept also the fact that all religions (deities) are equal.