Tag Archives: object

Votive Objects & Material Religion

Posted on January 16, 2019 by zjb

Went to see “Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place” at Bard Graduate Center Gallery. I understood that I was off to look at objects, but what are votive objects? Something loosely to do with “religion.” What I … Continue reading →

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(A Modest Proposal) Subjects-Of or Objects-For (Jewish Philosophy & Thought)

Posted on January 4, 2019 by zjb

[Richard Serra, One Ton Prop (House of Cards), 1969] Here’s a thought. As a historical thing, Jewish Philosophy and Thought has been the practice in which Jews and a putative Judaism are the subjects of thought and the objects of … Continue reading →

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Vibrant Matter of Painted Objects (Yoshiaki Mochizuki)

Posted on November 24, 2018 by zjb

Wandering around Chelsea last summer, we stumbled into Marlborough Contemporary and got to see Palenville, a solo show by Yoshiaki Mochizuki. It was not immediately clear what these things are. Jewel-like things, they turned out to be paintings. They are … Continue reading →

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(Interview with Batsheva Goldman-Ida) Hasidic Art & the Kabbalah

Posted on July 1, 2018 by zjb

Hasidic Art Objects

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(Religion) Things, Idea, Sensation (Max Müller)

Posted on October 26, 2017 by zjb

In putting together the syllabus for my graduate seminar, I decided to add the almost but never quite long forgotten Max Müller to his rightful place in the canon of classical theories and methods in the study of Religion. I … Continue reading →

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Western Wall Fetish Object

Posted on June 28, 2017 by zjb

Just a quick note on the Western Wall fiasco in the wake of Netanyahu’s suspending plans to create an egalitarian prayer space there. Parts of the Jewish left are claiming that the fight over access to the Western Wall, this … Continue reading →

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(Canaanite Origins) Material Artifact (Ishba’al ben Beda)

Posted on June 16, 2015 by zjb

Clay jar from Khirbet Qeiyafa, an Iron Age site from around 1020 to 980 BCE inscribed with the name of Ishba’al son of Beda. It’s the same name but most likely not the same person identified as such in Chronicles … Continue reading →

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Hanukkah Elephants

Posted on December 21, 2014 by zjb

Strange objects, a Hanukkah elephant.  

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Hatsune Miku: Post-Human Hologram Pop Star

Posted on November 23, 2014 by zjb

“Hatsune Miku is a Piece of Software. She May also be the Future of Music,” so reads the subtitle by Lindsay Zoladz in New York Magazine, which you can you read here. Maybe yes, maybe no, but certainly she’s awesome. … Continue reading →

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Tiny Torah (Cute Judaism) (Women of the Wall)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by zjb

In Our Aesthetic Categories, Sianne Ngai identifies “cute” as a contemporary category of aesthetic judgment.  This has to be the “cutest” little Torah ever. Its object character is simply adorable. Small and ready to hand. You could just eat it … Continue reading →

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