SoulPancake

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a hero.” —from Frank Herbert’s Dune

Would the world be better off without messiahs and the blood shed in their names?

:: bloodied hands by Tabbouleh Breath

"I like money on the wall. Say you were going to buy a $200,000 painting. I think you should take that money, tie it up, and hang it on the wall. That way, when someone visits you, the first thing they would see is the money on the wall." —Andy Warhol

:: Damien Hirst's Away from the Flock (1994). Steel, glass, lamb, formaldehyde.

Leave it to the maestro of Campbell’s soup-label-turned-modern-masterpiece to point out the fields of futility where art and society often collide. From “art collectors” with little interest in anything beyond appraisal appreciation to “artists” seeking shock value (we’re looking at you and your sheep swimming in formaldehyde, Mr. Hirst), sometimes art crosses the line simply for the line’s sake—for public fervor, for personal attention, even for cold hard cash.

Does art need to have a responsible relationship with society? Or can that relationship be perverted … and still be justified as 'artistic'?

[LIFE'S BIG LISTS]

The temperance movement’s coup de grâce was the failure of prohibition, but their mantra (an ancient Greek truism thanks to Xenophon)—”Temperance may be defined as: Moderation in all things healthful; total abstinence from all things harmful,” might be beneficial if applied, well, moderately.

List 3 aspects of your world that you think could benefit from a dose of moderation.

1. Lost. Sorry, I just don’t find it interesting and yes, I know that makes me the world's biggest douche.
2. Holiday hype. The mall is already putting up Christmas decorations—while I’m still rotting my teeth with Halloween candy.
3. Abstaining due to supposed food allergies. Dear friends, hearing about all the nuances of your various gastronomical situations is just a bore.

:: signage stating the obvious spied by justpat

[SP EXCLUSIVE]

This is a column about being torn. I’m torn about a lot of things. From awesome commercials produced by despicable corporations to whether or not a cartoon family is a good role model for my children. My goal is to weigh the odds and, ultimately, explore my own fractured feelings while discovering the people, places, and things that inspire me.

Today, I want to talk about porn. I wonder about it. On the one hand, I get it: sex, boobies, wiggling body parts, sweating, moaning. All good. But isn’t there something inherently sad and lonely about the person who watches it? “I am sad and lonely, so I want to watch other people simulating a pleasant experience so that I can possibly feel a physical sensation that will ultimately only remind me of how alone I am.”

I’m realizing this is not a typically male point of view.

There’s no getting around it: A plethora of addictions are out there, waiting for people to get hooked. There’re cigs and booze, cocaine and celebrity ragazines, and endless outlets for midnight burgers and greasy fries. For some, it’s chocolate; for others, it’s heroin; for others still, it’s porn. Pick your poison.

But if there’s one thing that absolutely NONE of us can seem to live without, it’s the burning desire to understand the ‘why.’ We mine the depths of knowledge for analytical facts and figures, plunge ourselves into the philosophical and spiritual realms for enlightenment, and struggle frantically when meaning eludes us, like a smoker trying to quit who rifles through old kitchen drawers and empty coat pockets for that one, long, last, satisfying drag.

Is the hunger for meaning our universal addiction? And if so, is our meaning fix harmful, helpful, or somewhere in between?

:: @Mayachen

[SP EXCLUSIVE]

:: spiritual evolution by afeatheradrift

The most elegant part of scientific theory is the ease with which science accepts new information and adjusts past ideas and hypotheses that were incorrect. In a sense, the scientific method itself, like evolution, has a built-in feedback loop that can fix or abandon what doesn't work and pursue traits (or ideas) that are useful and rewarding. It made me wonder: Can faith evolve and grow in the same way?

For the answer, I’m turning to an unlikely place: evolution. More than 15 years ago, archeologists discovered Ardipithecus ramidus (or 'Ardi') in Ethiopia. Ardi was a likely human ancestor that walked upright around 4.4 million years ago in the jungle and is the earliest candidate for a human ancestor ever to be found. Ardi has the intermediate characteristics we would expect from a human ancestor—she was an able climber, yet could still walk upright on the ground; she had a more dexterous hand than a chimpanzee; she did not walk on her knuckles. In other words, she has characteristics that are distinctly unlike both chimpanzees and humans—characteristics unique to her species. Since the initial discovery, teams of researchers have been painstakingly performing and compiling research about Ardi, much of which was published last month in the journal Science.

:: masterminded by justin johnson

[CHALLENGE: FRUGAL ARTIST]

:: photographs and art by Mui-Ling Teh

Artist Mui-Ling Teh, at the ripe age of 23, hasn’t yet made 2,000 micro-origami cranes from just one piece of paper, but she estimates she’s about halfway there. Teh folds cranes from 5mm x 5mm squares clipped from a single sheet and uses the end origami as inspirational subject matter for her photography. It’s fantastically tedious but wonderfully original, making us wonder what else could emerge from a single sheet of paper, a pair of scissors, and the artistic mind.

1. Get a piece of paper and scissors. (Tweezers are OK, but no tape, glue, pens, or markers.)
2. Transform 2D into 3D and create art.
3. Take a photo, and link to it here. (Don't embed or YOU will get microfolded.)

:: The Lovers by Rene Magritte, 1928

Back in the '50s, you weren’t officailly going steady until the girl got the guy’s class ring. In the '80s (and sometimes even today), things don’t get serious unless a couple trades in their class rings for wedding rings. In the Sicilian countryside, the wedding doesn’t even count unless it's consumated with the stain of conjugal bedsheets. Upload to the 21st century, and a relationship isn’t official until the couple’s Facebook status changes. The thing is, these are all outward signs of a relationship’s reality. The better question is: What's YOUR idea of the UNSEEN symbol of a couple’s affections?

What signals that a relationship has turned into something more permanent?

[LIFE’S BIG LISTS]

It’s cheesy but true: We go to the movies to escape, to laugh, to love, to cry. And there are plenty of movies that smack you with all those feelings simultaneously. But for every Shawshank Redemption and Little Miss Sunshine, there are just as many films that you wish had never played at your local cineplex. Maybe it was far too sick and twisted. Maybe it was unbearably pointless. Maybe it’s the hysteria left in its wake (we're looking at you, High School Musical). Whatever the case may be, what film do you wish you had never personally encountered?

List 3 movies you wish you’d never seen.

1. Gone With the Wind. Convinced me that a screwed-up relationship is a prerequisite for passion.
2. The Shining. I’ve never been able to look at hotel bathtubs the same way since.
3. American Psycho. So disturbing it made sense. And that was the most unsettling part.

:: @golriz