Jeffrey Schiff

  

Potters Field
 
   

1 of 9, Original state

Previous Next   Return to Installations | Interactivity

See pages from book of renunciations

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City
Year: 2001
Materials: wood, felt, renounced objects
Dimensions: 7" x 168" x 110"

This piece explores the idea of renunciation, the principal act commencing spiritual practice for many saints, from the Buddha to Saint Francis. To explore this process, I asked friends to engage in a limited renunciation––to renounce an object forever––in the spirit, if not the totality, of St. Francis. I then built a structure to house the objects––a community of renunciations––laid at the feet of the statue of the prodigal son, the elder son who, after a profligate youth, returned to his father's house to ask forgiveness. The community was enlarged by the renunciations of visitors to the Cathedral: viewers were invited to renounce objects of their own by leaving them in the empty chambers.