manifesta: church as covergirl

Glamour is the elusive element of celebrity culture that elevates the star. It is the careful transformation of a person from how they truly appear to an idealized fantasy that exists nowhere on this planet. Images in fashion magazines of unattainable clothing, impeccable hair, flawless makeup, photoshop adjustments and the occasional nip/tuck, construct contemporary icons for us to meditate upon whilst in line at the grocery store; celebrated figures imbued with an otherworldly character. The public instinctively craves these images like nothing else. The Church, an institution that once monopolized the production of glamorous visions of a world beyond, has fallen behind pop culture in the output  of such imagery. Having taken on the austere desires of the Reformation, The Church is no longer able to seduce. Although the Reformation favourably lead to an age of rationality and the beginning of greater class equality, something vital was lost. The Church, which like modern architecture, fell victim to a narrow view of functionalism, needs to regain its position as the primary source of glamour and lure followers back into the fold.