erotemeMiskat Qinan

for GODart

presented by FREAKShow

eroteme

Nouneroteme (plural erotemes)

1. (obsolete) A symbol, ?, comprising a curve and a dot below, signifying the end of a sentence that is a question.

▪ 1858, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars, fourth edition, Samuel S. and William Wood, page 798, The value of the eroteme as a sign of pause, is stated very differently by different grammarians.... J.S. Hart avers, that, "A question is reckoned as equal to a complete sentence, and the mark of interrogation as equal to a period."

▪ 1913, Frank H. Vizetelly, The Preparation of Manuscripts for the Printer, fifth revised edition, Funk & Wagnalls Company, page 50, The note of interrogation or eroteme is used at the end of a sentence to designate (1) a single question or (2) more, and (3) is sometimes written in parentheses to express a doubt or challenge the accuracy of a statement.

▪ 1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities, Scribner, page 240, On the typewriter keyboard, just below the question mark (the eroteme, note of interrogation, or uncertainty sign), there appears a short, slanting stroke....

Synonyms question mark

[wiktionary]

“I think religion and the question whether or not to believe in anything at all should be something personal. It seems wrong to force people into a lifestyle that doesn’t suit them. I also don’t believe in ‘the truth’, think we all have our own or at the very least our own perception of it. And as long as we can respect that from each other and allow as many ‘truths’ as there are people, we should get along just fine. I can get inspired by the way people practice their faith in their own lives and think it is a very good thing if people use that force to be the best they can possible be and help others along the line. But let it be used as a personal inspiration and in your community if you wish to participate in one. Teach your children and the people around you about what you believe in, but allow them to ask the questions themselves, to doubt and to find their own way. We all have our own way of doing things, and as long as we respect each other, I think we can live perfectly together in a harmonious society.”

Miskat Qinan

Religion and believing in ‘something out there’ is as old as humanity and possibly the most debated topic around.

Is there a God, are there more of them? Which religion is right and is there such a thing as the truth? Is divinity something within ourselves or an outer spirit? And does it exist at all?

Does praying help and can we lay responsibility for things on something other than ourselves?

Religion is a source of inspiration, hope, strength and community. Yet it is also a source of separation, hate and even war.

In our lives we are all confronted at at least 1 time with the question whether or not we believe, and if so in what we believe. No matter how we are raised, these questions will rise.

And we have to make a decision. Which can be as ‘easy’ as just continue to follow the path you have been raised on or to follow your own direction in what you feel is the truth.

But do we know the truth? A devoted Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan or [fill in here] will always be convinced their religion or lifestyle is the only right one. They have the proof for themselves that this is indeed true.

But does that mean if it is the truth for you it also is the truth for the other?While it may be very well practised within a community, it is, or should be, in the end a personal choice.

Eroteme is based on this search, on the confusion it may give.

7the characters

Eroteme is based upon 7 characters. Representations of human variety.

While portrayed by Miskat self, they should be considered general archetypes and not necessarily varieties of himself.

The 7 have been coined as:

- The Urban One- The Asian One- The Indian One- The Glamour One- The Cyborg One- The Villain One- The Slave One

Each character has been photographed from 8 different angles, to create a 3D representation which allows the viewer to constantly see the characters from different sides and also see them interfere with themselves. The technique used for this is one common in Second Life for creating flora and has been chosen to give it this connection to art created in a virtual world.

To create cohesion all the characters are dressed in white.This colour choice is, next to a continuous choice of Miskat in his work, also a representation of divinity (as in the Western world), related to the theme of the artwork and the exhibition it is part of.

The meaning of the number 7 within religion.

Bahá'íThe mystical text "The Seven Valleys", by the Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh, relates the journey of the soul through the seven "valleys" of Search, Love, Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Wonderment, and finally True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness

Christianity- The Seven Days of Creation (Genesis 1)- Seven things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-19)- The Seven Deadly Sins

Hinduism- The Sanskrit word 'sapta' refers to number seven- Seven Promises, Seven Rounds in Hindu Wedding and Seven Reincarnation- There are 7 Chakras

Islam- The number of heavens in Islamic tradition- The number of levels of Earth in Islamic tradition- The number of fires in hell. i.e the 7 fires of hell

Judaism- God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat). – Genesis 2:3- A seven-day purification period is required for one who has become tamei to become tahor- The Shmita (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year

Others- The minor symbol number of yang from the Taoist yin-yang- The number of ranks in Mithraism- In Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth

[Wikipedia]

erotemethe installation

The actual installation is a white enclosed space of 50x50x20 metres.

With enabling full bright, next to that the view is equal at each time of the day, you don’t see edges, no ends... all one sees is a white space.

The characters have been placed 7 times within this space, making a total of 49 characters.This to give the entire work enough ‘body’ and to stay within the theme of the number 7.

With the characters being in this large amount and each one of them coming close to 10 metres in height a forest seems to appear.

A forest of human beings. A forest of emotion. A forest to get lost within.

The visitor is invited to explore.

Thank you

Loglady Loon

“For allowing me to create this for GODart.For having been an inspiration to many with FREAKShow.”

Myself

“For continuing to always question what the truth is”

erotemeMiskat Qinan

for GODart

september 2009. all rights reserved.