In 2000, Sebastian Horsley, a British painter, decided he wanted to paint the crucifixion of Jesus. However, before he could go on to paint such a significant biblical event, he felt it was necessary to understand what being crucified actually felt like. Horsley then travelled to the Philippines, where he paid a team of locals 2,000 euros to hammer five-inch nails through his wrists and ankles, and hoist him onto a cross. This would then allow him to later recall the indescribable pain of the experience when painting the crucifixion of Jesus. The process took around half an hour, during which Horsley ended up losing consciousness, and sharing that he even felt a rush of hallucinogenic endorphins right before passing out. At one point, his foot support ended up breaking beneath him, and if it wasn’t for his friend who caught him, the nails would have torn through his hands. Apparently, Horsley has always had a strange relationship, and almost fascination with death; as he would sleep with a loaded gun next to his bed so that he might accidentally pick it up and shoot himself, thinking it was his telephone.
Taylor Schweer
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It is one thing for the artist to want to shoot himself in his sleep. But having other people crucify him is pretty reckless in the since that he could be putting those individuals in a lot of legal trouble should he have died or even if he hadn’t. It may be art when the artist is hurting themselves, but not when they are putting others at a legal risk.
The dedication that an artist like Horsley had is admirable yet questionable. I wonder what the process and experience of painting Jesus’ crucifixion was like. Was it emotional? Scary? Or was the excitement of painting the crucifixion of Jesus gone due to the pain he experienced being crucified? I am no artist, so I don’t think commenting about Horsley’s action was justified. However, if I were him, spending 2,000 Euros on getting crucified should be something to reconsider maturely. But props to him for going all out!
Wow. This is a prime example of an artist who lives and breathes art; he takes his work to the absolute next level by putting his life on the line to simply understand the subject of his painting. This is incredibly rare and beautiful in a twisted way. It is undeniably admirable but I can’t help but think of how irresponsible and deranged someone must be do to this to themselves.
It is a bit of a shock to me that Horsley actually tried to imitate crucifixion. As an artist myself, I know it is important to actually understand the topic and theme I want to draw, but what Horsley did was unacceptable to me. I personally think hurting oneself to that point is not a healthy thing to do even though the person himself is okay with that.
When depicting a scene as an artist, it is important to understand the scene. This aids in the integrity of the art. I wonder what Horsley’s main motivation was in wanting to crucify himself, was it just understanding the art or was it because he was truly suicidal?
It is not uncommon for artists to perform ostentatious stunts in the name of “art”. While I did not grow up in the Philippines, the more religious members of my family have some recollection of the numerous Catholic holidays and practices done there. In short, voluntarily nailing oneself to the cross isn’t unheard of and is seen as a passionate expression of their Christian faith. It’s interesting then, that this British artist went to a foreign land to engage in this practice, as it’s probably just as controversial to the Western world. My concern is pointed towards the risky behavior Horsley exhibits, such as this practice or sleeping with a loaded gun by his bed. This being public knowledge, I guess, informs us of his colorful persona, but I wonder why this is just seen as a quirk – that artists “think outside the box” and do things regular people wouldn’t do. The gory act behind his art does draw attention in a similar fashion celebrities getting exaggerated implants does, but why are we, as a society, so drawn towards things that might harm the person doing them?
I think what is fascinating about this “Crucifixion” is that as an artist, you always want to understand what you are painting, etc. Horsley took it another step forward and wanted to understand the pain that Jesus went through as he is trying to draw such a scene. In doing so, he could understand the art in his pain and reflect that when he paints. What I do think is interesting is the fact that this was legal where he went. Like, I am just surprised that he was able to do this and was ok at the end of it because that would hurt and I wouldn’t be able to handle something like that.
I wonder if Horsley’s fascination with death is just another way of saying the artist is suicidal, thus they do all of these extreme potentially fatal things. However, I think it is admirable that the artist wants to go so far as wanting to feel what Jesus felt in order to paint all the emotions that come with being crucified.
I wonder if Horsley’s fascination with death is just another way of saying the artist is suicidal, thus they do all of these extreme potentially fatal things. However, I think it is admirable that the artist wants to go so far as wanting to feel what Jesus felt in order to paint all the emotions that come with being crucified.
It’s interesting that Horsley wanted to go through a real-life experience so he could accurately depict a scene. The fascination with death leads me to believe that he could have had issues with his adrenergic receptors. However, going through with asking people to hammer his wrists and ankles seems very extreme.