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Sumo wrestling’s roots lie in performances to entertain the gods and ensure a good harvest. These roots have grown into a gnarled tree of patriotism, history, entertainment, and scandal, but the ritual remains. In this artwork, two LED sumo wrestlers take turns performing the demon-vanquishing sta\mping ritual and then slamming their force into the paper cutting tree that stands between them. As they strike the tree, LED birds in the upper branches take flight then settle back onto their perches a moment later. This portrayal shows an art form once used to beseech natural forces to bend to human will now imposing itself forcefully upon the very gods it once revered—just as modern man, no longer an animist, subject to the whims of nature, has become a creator imposing his dreams upon nature and all of her inhabitants. [Brittney O'Neill] |
