Writing these words in the time of Covid-19, there is something at once nostalgic and newly vivid about all these…
Figurative publics: Conclusion
aesthetics
Refashioning gender and modern visual theology
The visual and material repertoire of Heavenly Bodies has also been fundamentally shaped by the role of allegory in Catholic…
The soulful, comic defiance of Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies surprised me because I was anticipating a celebration of Catholic aesthetics and fashion. It was partly this. But…
Madeline
He had fallen asleep on the train and missed his stop at Secaucus. . . .
Josef Sorett and the idea of a racial aesthetic
Josef Sorett’s Spirit in the Dark is a marvelous book, not least of all due to its meticulous, incisive, and…
Spirit in the Dark—An introduction
Josef Sorett (Columbia University) introduces a critical exchange centered on his new book, Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of…
What is the aesthetic of contemporary spirituality?
At Religion in American History, Michael J. Altman takes a broad look at Frequencies, citing his appreciation of individual posts,…
An alternate reading of David Wojnarowicz’s ant-covered Christ
David Wojnarowicz's "Fire in My Belly" is an expression not of hostility to the Christian faith but of a deep,…
The indispensability of form
The salience of ideas and practices that emphasize rupture from previous social settings and modes of thought should not blind…
The cross: more than religion?
On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Salazar v. Buono, its latest effort…