WESSELINK, Filemon. Crucify Jesus by Yourself!

(The Netherlands): Self-published, 2015.  First edition.  Object.  30.2cm by 27.7cm. A controversial art piece packaged to mimic a mass-produced toy, this conceptual object contains a figure of Jesus, three wooden pieces (to construct a cross), a small hammer, nails, and hinges. The work was exhibited at the Twente Biennial in Enschede, the Dutch city where the television spectacle The Passion was filmed. Wesselink has described that production as the “Disneyfication” of Christianity — and his piece as perhaps the next logical step in its commodification, or even desecration. The artwork confronts the viewer with the theological and symbolic paradox at the heart of Christianity: the crucifixion as both a sacred and deeply violent image. It does not necessarily invite the viewer to enact the crucifixion, but rather to reflect on their relationship to it. Raised in a Christian environment, Wesselink questions how the image of the crucified Christ has become a normalized, even decorative icon — stripped of its historical brutality. By reframing the crucifixion as a consumer object, he asks: Do we truly understand what we are venerating? And by venerating it, are we complicit in it?  This is a fine unopened example, reportedly produced in an edition of just five copies, of which three were offered for sale.  Rare.