2008.205: god is alive (part 1)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2008.205

People

Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita), American (Fort Dodge, Iowa 1918 - 1986 Boston, Massachusetts)

Title

god is alive (part 1)

Classification

Prints

Work Type

print

Date

1969

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/328999

Physical Descriptions

Technique

Screen print

Dimensions

57.15 x 29.21 cm (22 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• (not assigned): Printed text reads (in combination with "God is Alive (part 2)," 2008.206): GOD IS ALIVE MAGIC IS AFO OT GOD IS AFO OT MAGIC IS A LIVE Leonard Cohen // I resist anything better than my own diversity, breathe the air but leave plenty after me, am not struck up, and am in my place... I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, and the pisamire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, and the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest, and the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven...Whitman // Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Clarke (2001) // After all, we are a people who live on the roof of the world; we are the sons of Father Sun, and with our religion we daily help our father go across the sky. We do this not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. If we were to cease practicing our religion, in ten years the sun would no longer rise. Then it would be night forever... The ritual acts of man are an answer and reaction to the action of God upon man; and perhaps they are not only that, but are also intended to be "activating," a form of magic coercion. That man feels capapble of formulating valid replies to the overpowering influence of God, and that he can render back something which is essential even to God, induces pride, for it raises the human individual to the dignity of a metaphysical factor. "God and us"---even if it is only an unconscious sous-entendu---this equation no doubt underlies that enviable serenity of the Pueblo Indian. Such a man is in the fullest sense of the word his proper place. from Memories, Dreams and Reflections by C.G. Jung
• inscription: l.l., in graphite: 68-69-84

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund

Copyright

© Courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Accession Year

2008

Object Number

2008.205

Division

Modern and Contemporary Art

Contact

am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

Permissions

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