Revelation Revisited

Once again I find myself barreling through the aisles of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. I started this text drawing many millennia ago, in 2009. The yellowing of the letters at the top attests to the dates; they've faded to a golden ochre, while the letters I laid down yesterday gleam by comparison. In 2009 I got as far as chapter 15, became overwhelmed by it (who wouldn't? it's a tough read), and set it aside for 44 fortnights. The world didn't seem to be coming to an end in any hurry, so there was no pressing need to finish it up.

Until now. It's destined for a gallery show in March, and I'm in a positive fury to finish it up. There are 22 chapters, and I've just reached chapter 17, so there are many miles to go. I'm in my studio night and day, partying with the Antichrist, kvetching with Babylonian harlots, and bawling out ballads to rock the ages:

Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

A real hoot it is, and a little over the top, but what is the Book of Revelation, if not over the top? This is not the time to become a Minimalist; I can't feature going all Agnes Martin with this particular text. No, this is Neo-Rococo at its finest; a proliferation of loops and baubles, ornament and excess. It rattles me to work on it, and not just because of the impending deadline. Revelation is so in-your-face, so doom-and-gloom, that it jars the soul to enter its spell. It's like going to Times Square on a Saturday night: why would any reasonable New Yorker self-aggravate by willfully entering that abyss?

A year ago I was doing an installation of Revelation on the walls of Famous Accountants, a cool gallery in Brooklyn, and I swore that I'd eat locusts before I'd do that again. Little did I know. But hey, free will aside, I hate to leave a job unfinished, ya know? I mean, I put in a few months of solid work to get to chapter 15, and it'll take a couple more months to bring it on home, and then I'll be done with it. Allah forbid that I should do it a third time.

Speaking of Whom, I forgot to mention that I'm cutting the letters from the Koran. And floating in the center is an Islamic mandala, in which I include a beloved Muslim prayer, Ayat al-Kursi, or the Throne Verse. It's a beautiful prayer, moving in its simplicity, and all-encompassing in its expression of Allah as the everlasting and glorious Creator. The letters for this prayer are cut from the book of Revelation.

And with that, I'm off to the studio for another day of levity. Wishing you all a fabulous day and a pleasant Rapture.

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For those of you who are interested, I write about the current piece HERE, and I blog about last year's installation of Revelation THERE.