Christ Mourant – (Dying Christ)
Antoine Schmitt 2006
Program, computer, projector.
Visual infinite projection. Not interactive.
About 2m x 1.96m (minimum 1m x 0.98m)
“When addressing the human condition, my art works often involve a living figure in a delicate situation and deals with the forms of empathy that can emerge between the viewers and the figure. Even though I don’t have faith, I have always felt a great empathy and fascination for the mother of all delicate situations : the Christ on the cross, suffering and sacrificing himself for the sake of humanity. My work could just not avoid addressing this figure. The Christ Mourant is a direct tribute to the Christ, which I consider as a cultural creation, remarkably and mysteriously symptomatic of the torments of the human psyche.
In the Christ Mourant (Dying Christ), I have focused on the climactic moment of the death of the Christ on the cross and extended this moment indefinitely. The figure that we see never dies: it is endlessly suffering and dying. In this work, I have recreated, using 3D modeling and physics engine inspired by video games engines, the physical conditions of the death of the Christ : a body hung by nailed hands and feet, trying to pull on his arms to be able to breathe, not being able to hold this position because of exhaustion, endlessly trying. The figure that we see is actually, in his world, indefinitely suffering, and we can feel it.” Antoine Schmitt, 2008
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