Brief Thoughts on my Artistic and Philosophical Intentions by Joan Pope

Detail of The Sacred by Joan Pope

This was something I originally posted on Instagram this week and I've added some afterthoughts below.

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My intention as an artist and philosopher is to get you to ask the questions, and answer them for yourself. Sometimes people get what sort of questions I want them to ask, but then they just ask me for the answers! What is the benefit to you if I answer them for you? Who the fuck cares what I think? I’m a nobody who knows nothing. I’m trying to get you to ask the questions I’ve asked myself along the way so that maybe you discover some truth within you. And I prefer not to communicate in explicit text for a variety of reasons, one big reason being that I prefer the universal language of symbols. And because fucking hell.. anything you write on the internet becomes an eternal testament and everyone is a cunt to you if, god forbid, your views on something change over time. (As if allowing your worldview to evolve as you experience and learn more over time is a bad thing.)

#sexdeathrebirth #art #philosophy #theriseofthephilosopherqueen #questioneverything #symbolism #gnosis #knowledge #epistemology #truth #belief #iknowthatiknownothing

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Some afterthoughts to add:

For those that have been following me along the way as I've built SexDeathRebirth, you may have noticed that I refer to it as a cult (in the academic sense, rather than the popular sense) or religion. Specifically, I call it a gnostic cult. Allow me to refresh for you what that means: Gnosis is inner knowledge, attained by turning inward. Any sort of revelations I have had, are possible for you to have as well, but I cannot experience it for you. You must do the work yourself. Like I said, I am trying my best to inspire you to ask yourself the questions that I've asked myself, the questions that have lead me to more questions, then more questions... and I gained some understanding along the way. I can only show you what has helped me along the way on my particular path, but you cannot walk the same exact path as anyone else. SexDeathRebirth is a religion in the sense that it may provide a blueprint for your journey to Gnosis, but if you are looking for me to provide you with a dogmatic, institutionalized structure, you're missing the point.

I will address the limits of language at a future point..