502 Bad Gateway Alexander Baumann Robert Ruth House Of Bread, 2023 sand cast zinc alloy, wood, water-based stain, 14.5”x4”x19.5” House of Bread is a bas relief sculpture that demonstrates mistranslations and lost context in ancient religious texts. Its name refers to the town of Bethlehem and its literal meaning, a joke lost in translation in Ruth 1:1, which if translated directly might read “There is a famine in the house of bread.” With a case inspired by early tabernacles, and a sculptural style referencing Christian reliefs, the piece uses traditional religious imagery in exploring the ancient biblical swords to plowshares concept, and its antithetical, which is used as a call to violence and a justification for atrocities today. As historical documents, especially religious ones, are increasingly seen as immutable and static in meaning, it is worth examining how words change over time, through different cultural contexts and imprecise adaptation.
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House Of Bread
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502 Bad Gateway Alexander Baumann Robert Ruth House Of Bread, 2023 sand cast zinc alloy, wood, water-based stain, 14.5”x4”x19.5” House of Bread is a bas relief sculpture that demonstrates mistranslations and lost context in ancient religious texts. Its name refers to the town of Bethlehem and its literal meaning, a joke lost in translation in Ruth 1:1, which if translated directly might read “There is a famine in the house of bread.” With a case inspired by early tabernacles, and a sculptural style referencing Christian reliefs, the piece uses traditional religious imagery in exploring the ancient biblical swords to plowshares concept, and its antithetical, which is used as a call to violence and a justification for atrocities today. As historical documents, especially religious ones, are increasingly seen as immutable and static in meaning, it is worth examining how words change over time, through different cultural contexts and imprecise adaptation.