final major project

Evaluation for 'Satanism'

“Don’t worry, you who have been fooled into believing the paper tiger displayed by today’s media; we Satanists aren’t after your children, for they are probably as hopelessly mediocre as their parents. But we are moving the world towards a state wherein the freeloaders will either work or starve, and the parasites will be removed to wither and die. So, you need only fear real Satanism if you are a criminal, a parasite, or a wastrel. Are you afraid?”

• Peter H. Gilmore

Considering the general stereotypes of a Satanist, I wanted to alter the perception and challenge the public. I was happy with this brief and have been throughout – even though originally it was just to promote it. This has possibly been my favourite brief due to a response I got from the Church of Satan themselves;

Greetings, Ms. Leigh:

Frankly, the texts and graphics on our web site are copyrighted and you should have asked for our permission to use any of our materials. Fair use allows for brief quotations, but appropriating essays and graphics is clearly a violation. While this may be a class assignment, such things tend to get "out there" on the Internet and such a book project cannot legally be released even for free as it could potentially be a violation of numerous copyrights.

It is wonderful that you've found meaning in aspects of our philosophy – it is intended as a tool for creative, responsible and intelligent individuals, but we cannot give you permission to do this. Additionally, posters - while you intend them as a means for iconoclasm, shattering pre-conceptions - they also can be interpreted as proselytizing, and we are firmly against that.

We appreciate your positive intentions, and imagine that you may have the skills to make such a project interesting, but we'd rather that you did not do this.

Sincerely,

Magus Peter H. Gilmore

High Priest

Church of Satan

This e-mail prompted me to reassess the way I was working – if they take themselves seriously already then why should I? It is far healthier to take a piece from all religious models to construct your own meaning rather than to feel the need to belong to one set. Make your own religion. I'm happy with how my publications have turned out and I've read a lot during my research, one thing I would comment on though is that I am nowhere near an expert yet, and for future pursuits I need to remember that if I want to convince someone then I need to know what I am convincing them about. Visually, this brief got good reception from peers in crits, but I found it hard to pin point what I wanted to get out of the brief, and what I wanted other people to get out of it too. I feel resolved now and I can adequately explain my reasoning behind it.