THE GOLDEN CALF

„Ideologies and religions are a betrayal of the humane in the human. They give us the illusion of belonging while they make us strangers to what is most intimate within us.“

The Golden Calf is a sequel of Timon Imveldt ́s graduate collection Exodus, which opposed the Biblical narrative of the Exodus story of the Israelites to the personally experienced process of detachment from a rigid religious system, which excludes and even demonises alter-sexuals and rejects their right for faith.

The Golden Calf is a metaphorical work within the contrasting contexts of religion and sexuality and shows the disoriented and questioning status quo after the detachment into a self-determined life.

The versatile symbol of the bull illustrates the conflict many people experience growing up gay in a religious or/and a straight world. It is about an inner fight between shame and authenticity, and the struggle of overcoming the deeply routed and built up rage created by shame.

The Golden Bull is the last obstacle to conquer into a shameless, authentic and content life - The Promised Land.

Photographs by Emmi Hyyppa, Performer METARAPH, Sadler´s Wells London

I AM ALWAYS MOVING - I AM SHIFTING SHAPES 

Remember what God said to Moses: “I AM Who I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God is clearly not tied to a name, nor does God seem to want us to tie the Divinity to any one name. This is why, in Judaism, God’s statement to Moses became the unspeakable and unnamable God. We must practice profound humility in regard to God, who gives us not a name, but pure presence—no handle that could allow us to think we “know” who God is or have him or her as our private possession.

Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ