Gallery Submission

Name:

Eric Rista

E-Mail:

Send e-mail to this artist

Concept:

Supposedly Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize winning scientist, had a horseshoe hanging over the door of his laboratory. When his visitors amazedly asked whether he actually believed in this primitive magic stuff, he replied: "Of course not. But believers have convinced me that the horseshoe will help me even if I don't believe."

I do not believe in demons, souls, spirits or gods. I am a thorough atheist. I do not even believe in the validity of Pascal's Wager ("If God does not exist, there's no harm in believing in Him; if He does, unbelief will send you to the Pit for eternity"; the fallacy lies with the fact that there are thousands of religions and each of them has a One and Only God who will send you to the Pit if you do not believe in the specific Him — so your chance of believing in the "right" Him is comparable to winning the Irish Sweepstakes, provided you never buy a ticket). Still, sympathetic magic is the oldest religion invented by mankind, and, as irrational as it is, it does have certain artistic appeal.

A journalist friend once told me "Our immortality is on our hard disks." But disks may crash, so this barbecue pit is my condescension to sympathetic magic: as long as my name is spoken, my essence will live. If you read the plaque while waiting for your steak to grill, you contribute to my imaginary immortality.

Bio:

Born: July 25, 1952

Occupation: anything that is fun (and brings home the bacon)

Died: never

As long as you use this grill and read my name, I live. As a reward for your contribution to my imaginary immortality, I will protect your steak from charring, provided you observe the sacred ritual: watch the steak closely, baste frequently with spiced oil and dark beer, turn it over every two minutes and remove at the first sign of blackening.