It has inspired me to write my own post (with a bit more of a legal spin) which considers some of the issues you have raised here.

I stick to what I said above about a suitable Catholic response, and as is probably obvious, I wouldn’t have created such a piece of art as that (as a matter of ability as well as of taste!).

I definitely also stick to what I said re this being more about attention-seeking than any exploration of serious issues. Except I guess I could extend that to both sides!

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0703/30/acd.01.html

COOPER: Well, I don’t think it’s our job here on 360 to tell you what to think about something. We just ask the questions and help you decide.

A few minutes ago, I talked to artist Cosimo Cavallaro and the man who worked to shut down his exhibit, Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Cosimo, I want to start by asking you what your intention was with — with this — this piece of art.

C. CAVALLARO: My intention was to celebrate this body of Christ, and in a sweet, delicious, tasteful way.

COOPER: Why — why use chocolate?

C. CAVALLARO: Because it’s a substance that I like. And it’s sweet. And I felt that the body of Christ, the — the meaning of Christ, is about the sweetness.

COOPER: Were you trying to shock, I mean, to — to cause attention?

Often — usually, when Christ is shown, he’s wearing some form of clothing. This is a naked Christ, which has also caused some concern.

C. CAVALLARO: No more than the religion, the way they use it. I was just using it as an iconic figure.

I mean, that my intentions was to shock people, no. I was — my intention was to have them taste the — and feel what they’re looking at in their mouth.

COOPER: Bill, you call this exhibit hate speech. You said it’s — quote — “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.”

What specifically offends you about it?

WILLIAM DONAHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: Well, of course, asking the public to come in and eat Jesus, with his genitals exposed, during Holy Week I think would be self-explanatory.

If we took an image of this artist’s mother, and made her out in chocolate, with her genitals exposed, of course, to be equal, and then asked the public to eat her on Mother’s Day, yes, he might have a problem. Maybe he wouldn’t.

But you know what bothers me? It’s not even the artist. I mean, we have a lot of these loser artists down in SoHo and around the country. What bothers me is that this guy Knowles, who is an artist in residence, the owner, the president and CEO of an establishmentarian site, the Roger Smith Hotel, 47th and Lexington, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, that is what bothers me, because now we have the establishment kicking in.

And to put this out during Holy Week, on street level, when kids can walk in off the street, these people are morally bankrupt. And my goal is to make them financially bankrupt.

COOPER: Cosimo, do you understand the outrage this has caused? I mean, do you think it’s overreaction? Do you get it?

C. CAVALLARO: Yes, I get it. I think it’s an overreaction.

You just heard the gentleman calling artists losers, or me a loser. I think what he’s — his assault is on the public at large, artists, and freedom of speech, and every Catholic. I’m a Catholic, and I’m a Christian.

And I think this gentleman doesn’t even represent the people that are in his faith.

DONAHUE: That’s funny. You said I put out a fatwa, right? Or the — or the — that was the — the guy who ran the lab, says I put out a fatwa. I put out a news release.

So, you’re accusing me of being like the Taliban; is that right?

C. CAVALLARO: Who, me? You’re not that intelligent.

(LAUGHTER)

DONAHUE: Oh, no, let me tell you something. You’re — you’re lucky I’m not as mean, because you might lose more than your head.

COOPER: Cosimo, did you want people to eat this? Was that part of this?

C. CAVALLARO: No.

Did you hear what this gentleman is saying, that I would lose my head?

DONAHUE: No, I — you heard what I said. I said you’re — you’re lucky I’m not like the Taliban, because you would lose more than your head, which is why…

C. CAVALLARO: Right. So, therefore…

(CROSSTALK)

DONAHUE: … guys like you wouldn’t do this against Mohammed during Ramadan.

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: No, because I’m a Christian. And I’m not trying to…

DONAHUE: Oh, you’re a Christian. Please. Don’t lie about it, all right? Don’t lie about it.

C. CAVALLARO: I’m not lying. No, I’m not lying about it.

DONAHUE: Yes, you are.

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: I want to ask you a question, Mr. Donahue.

DONAHUE: Yes.

C. CAVALLARO: Where do you think I should exhibit this? Because you — you have bamboozled an art gallery.

DONAHUE: Right.

C. CAVALLARO: And you have bamboozled an establishment. You have put fear in people to listen to your rhetoric and to believe — just because a man has got his arms extended and he’s made in chocolate — it’s your Christ — and it’s offensive.

DONAHUE: That’s right.

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: And, by the way — excuse me. I’m going to talk to you for a minute. You keep quiet.

DONAHUE: And you want the public to eat him.

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: Now, you go to the Catholic Church…

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Let Cosimo finish his point.

C. CAVALLARO: You go to the Catholic Church, and you’re going to see statues from Michelangelo that are nude. Are you going to clothe them for the Holy Week?

DONAHUE: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: And are you telling me that, apart from the Holy Week, we could do anything we want to do with the genitalia? What are you talking about?

DONAHUE: The…

COOPER: OK. Let Bill answer.

DONAHUE: All right. All right, first of all, Leonardo, you’re not.

But, quite frankly, where should you have this displayed? In New Jersey is where New Yorkers put their garbage. There’s a big sanitation dump. That’s where you should put it.

COOPER: Bill, let me read you something that David Kuo, the former presidential assistant to President Bush, who worked in the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, said in reference to your protest.

He said — quote — “Instead of getting all amped up over this art, Christians should be spending time facing the real and very challenging Jesus found in the Gospels, and encouraging others to do the same.”

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Are you making a bigger deal out of this than it deserves?

DONAHUE: No, no, no, no.

COOPER: And doesn’t this, in fact, give this more attention than it ever would have received otherwise?

DONAHUE: If, in fact, it was at some dump in SoHo, I probably wouldn’t pay too much attention. But the fact that the Roger Smith Hotel…

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: … dump in SoHo.

DONAHUE: … right here in New York City is doing this thing, no. If I don’t pay attention to it, then I — my people should ask for me to be fired.

By the way, I am delighted with the response from Jews, Muslims, and others, not just Catholics and Protestants, with this. People are basically saying, enough is enough. This is absolutely revolting.

And what you’re saying, sir, is totally disingenuous. No one believes it. I don’t even think you believe it.

COOPER: But, Bill, doesn’t — doesn’t — I mean, don’t people have a right to express themselves? And isn’t that what art is about? Aren’t artists supposed to provoke thought?

DONAHUE: That’s right. And, if we — and if we put a swastika out on a stamp in the United States, we could call that art. It was an art exhibition. I don’t think Jews would go for that.

Just because art is art doesn’t mean that it is a right that is absolute. Art can be insulting and it can be offensive. And when these people are whining, claiming victim status, as this guy is doing, because of my exercise of my First Amendment right of freedom of speech — I didn’t call the cops to come in and censor this.

I’m simply saying I called up about 500 of my friends and — running different Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and non- sectarian organizations to boycott the Roger Smith Hotel. They’re morally bankrupt. I want to see them financially bankrupt.

COOPER: Cosimo, I want to give you the final thought. Do you plan to — to display this elsewhere?

C. CAVALLARO: Yes, I do, hopefully.

And I would like to add to the gentleman who referred to the swastika, he’s actually acting like a Nazi.

(LAUGHTER)

C. CAVALLARO: And I — I would like to ask one question.

Where do you suggest that I exhibit this? Because you basically pulled it out of a gallery for me. So, where do you think…

DONAHUE: No. I — I told you…

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: Where — no, excuse me.

Where do you suggest that an artist should exhibit his work that you don’t infringe on?

DONAHUE: Well, you know, go to some dump down in SoHo, where…

C. CAVALLARO: A dump?

DONAHUE: … nobody will pay attention.

C. CAVALLARO: Is there a church in SoHo that’s a dump, too, because…

DONAHUE: Oh, you would like to…

(CROSSTALK)

C. CAVALLARO: No, let me tell you something.

DONAHUE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

C. CAVALLARO: There’s two priests that have wanted to exhibit this in their church.

DONAHUE: Is that right?

C. CAVALLARO: Yes, absolutely.

DONAHUE: Give me their names.

C. CAVALLARO: I will not, because you’re a bully.

(LAUGHTER)

C. CAVALLARO: And you know what? I believe that there’s people in your organization that would like you to resign.

DONAHUE: Is that right?

C. CAVALLARO: Absolutely. And you’re…

DONAHUE: Well, how come — I haven’t heard from them.

C. CAVALLARO: I got to tell you something, there’s more filth that comes out of your mouth…

DONAHUE: Is that right?

C. CAVALLARO: Yes — than I have seen…

(CROSSTALK)

DONAHUE: Look, you lost. You know what? You put your middle finger at the Catholic Church, and we just broke it, didn’t we, pal?

C. CAVALLARO: No. You’re wrong. You’re wrong.

DONAHUE: Yes, we did. You lost.

C. CAVALLARO: I have a lot of believers.

DONAHUE: We — we won. You’re out of a job.

C. CAVALLARO: And I’m a Christian. And there’s a lot of people like me, who are opposed to what you’re doing, because you made a big…

DONAHUE: Yes? But I got a job, and you don’t.

C. CAVALLARO: You made a — “I got a job, and you don’t”?

DONAHUE: Yes.

C. CAVALLARO: You’re acting like a 5-year-old.

DONAHUE: I got a job, and you don’t.

C. CAVALLARO: You’re talking — you’re acting like a 5-year-old. And I feel sorry for you.

COOPER: All right. We’re going to — we’re…

DONAHUE: Well, I won on this, and you lost, didn’t you?

COOPER: Well, let’s — let’s leave it there.

You both expressed your opinions.

Bill Donahue, appreciate you being with — and, Cosimo Cavallaro, appreciate it as well. Thank you, sir.

C. CAVALLARO: Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

If you leave it in, it becomes a perfectly reasonable proposition for anyone who is not so militantly atheist that they cannot allow themselves to comprehend the idea of reverence.

And no, since Michelangelo

I think that’s what they call circular reasoning, isn’t it?

As for ‘gratuitously naked’, do you mean Like Michelangelo’s David?

It is a matter of perspective. Obviously someone perfectly open-minded is not going to be offended. But none of us are that, so why so perplexed?

The first is whether the work is offensive. Since none of the critics, from Ms McCaffrey through the Archbishop to Patrick and Mark L, has offered a word of explanation as to why it’s offensive, it’s impossible to make any progress on this question.

The second is whether it’s a good work of art. As Ken says, it comes under the category of populist art. It’s an anatomically pleasing depiction, and would be generally admired if people didn’t know it was chocolate. It’s been propduced by a guy whose medium is food, so it’s partly a statment about the versality of the medium. It makes standard argument about the incongruity of the religious meaning of Easter and the way we celebrate it, and suggests a chocolate Eucharist as a cheeky resolution. Transparent, but well executed, and an interseting talking point for all that. That’s what populist art is.

Cardinal Egan made a comment which was well within his right to do but I am finding it hard to determine whether he was supporting the League in calls for boycotts, was alerted to this exhibition by the League’s mailouts or was responding to a request for comment or what. I certainly can’t see any reference to nudity there.

And as for Cavallaro:

Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.

Yet another fruit cake posing as an artist.

Which is why I agree with Patrick and disagree with Ken on this point:

It

So my point was that either I misread you, or you had not understood Christian doctrine as expounded in the Bible. I suppose there is a third, perhaps happiest, alternative: that you miswrote.

Torture and persecution don

A JC that looks pretty taut and terrific and as if he were flying emits a heretical message. Torture and persecution don’t always end in defeat or termination. And penance, or suffering, can provide sustenance and nourishment for others.

The idea that we don’t need, and is futile to rely on a Saviour who dies for our sins, that we have in ourselves all that is needed to save ourselves and others, even the smallest of creatures, and those most reviled, is the most heretical message of all at Easter.

Go Cosimo Cavallaro!

A chocolate Christ would be a helluva lot more palatable than that dry wafer thing, sticking to the roof of your mouth, though it has been many years since I have indulged. I say this is a brilliant marketing move. The Catholic Church should be grateful. Why the friggin’ hell didn’t they think of it before?

The question is, is he circumcised? The reflected gloss on the chocolate (‘bloom’, I believe it’s called) makes it a bit hard to tell.

Whilst I don’t care much myself about this artwork, I think it requires a somewhat warped perspective to think it odd that people might.

Perhaps, in fairness, a considered response would have been to ignore it, or simply issue a mildly worded statement expressing their sorrow that the artist was so insecure he felt driven to such pathetic calls for attention, and their hope that he would find meaning in his life.

That brief comment from Patrick seems about right to me.

JESUS HAD A PEE PEE.

I mean…yeeeesh.. Jesus the man, assuming his existence, would have had the regulation issue male appendage.