Christ of the Deep
November 5, 2006 11:53 PM   Subscribe

 
Christ being slowly corroded and consumed by nature. I like the symbolism there.
posted by chrisamiller at 11:59 PM on November 5, 2006


But does Christ need more sponges?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:00 AM on November 6, 2006


In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
posted by Fruny at 12:07 AM on November 6, 2006


"Ha! You can see my footprints from down here!"
posted by bunglin jones at 12:07 AM on November 6, 2006


That is an awesome photo! Thanks.
posted by Falconetti at 12:21 AM on November 6, 2006


And this is another great find, jonson. Thanks you.
Maybe, next to the little bold, italic and link buttons below the comment box, Matt should add one that automatically adds "Thanks, jonson, great post"
posted by bunglin jones at 12:25 AM on November 6, 2006


Wow, that first photo is beautiful.
posted by jayder at 12:29 AM on November 6, 2006


molto affascinante, grazie jonson.
posted by Holy foxy moxie batman! at 12:43 AM on November 6, 2006


That's wicked cool. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

If only Photoshop had a seaweed and barnacles filter, we could have our Flying Spaghetti Monster of the Deep. But sigh, even if, we could only link to it.
posted by XMLicious at 1:04 AM on November 6, 2006


Wow, that photo in your first link is indeed gorgeous. I'm now a fan of undersea sculpture. There should be more down there below the surface.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:19 AM on November 6, 2006


im in ur ocean forgivin ur sinz
posted by knave at 2:35 AM on November 6, 2006 [7 favorites]


Apparently He died for our synchronized swimmers.
posted by rob511 at 2:41 AM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]


So much for the walking on water.
posted by hal9k at 2:49 AM on November 6, 2006 [2 favorites]


Similar at www.underwatersculpture.com
posted by stumcg at 2:55 AM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]


This is heracy. Everyone knows he lives in a pineapple.
posted by Arcaz Ino at 3:52 AM on November 6, 2006


Amen, flapjax. The ones at stumcg's link are very artistic but I think it has alot more potential - y'know how underseascapes in films are always sweeping and majestic. I think that this would finally be a feasible use for seacrete^.
posted by XMLicious at 3:57 AM on November 6, 2006


Q: What do you call one giant statue of Jesus sunk to the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:00 AM on November 6, 2006 [4 favorites]


So, he dived for our sins?
posted by Luddite at 4:04 AM on November 6, 2006 [4 favorites]


I'd be more impressed if he was on the water.
posted by furtive at 4:15 AM on November 6, 2006


I'll see your Deep Sea Jesus and raise you an Underwater Buddha.
posted by EarBucket at 4:28 AM on November 6, 2006


The Great Barrier between us and god is not much atoll.
posted by Cedric at 4:43 AM on November 6, 2006


Love the first photo. Thanks!
posted by The God Complex at 4:48 AM on November 6, 2006


Dude, my old scout master knocked over your underware buddha be accident!
posted by jeffburdges at 4:57 AM on November 6, 2006


Jesus pun!
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 5:16 AM on November 6, 2006


God Lives Underwater.
posted by itchylick at 5:31 AM on November 6, 2006


It really irks me that someone affixed that 'In Memoriam' plaque to the statue years after it'd been submerged. Seriously, after all the trouble other people went to to get that thing underwater... Get your own big bronze Jesus, dude.
posted by maryh at 6:06 AM on November 6, 2006


Jesus drownded for our sins.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:13 AM on November 6, 2006


Wow, maybe it's early in the morning and my joke defense system isn't fully operational yet, but like 20 of the comments in this thread totally cracked me up. Also, thanks for the link, stumcg!
posted by jonson at 6:22 AM on November 6, 2006


Wow, it's funny how regional our world still is. In South Florida everyone knows about this statue, it's passe. It would never have occurred to me to post this. Is this really news to everyone else?
posted by oddman at 6:31 AM on November 6, 2006


I've heard of a phenomenon called Rapture of the Deep.
posted by Haruspex at 6:33 AM on November 6, 2006


Oddman, have you heard about the Giant Jesus Statue overlooking the sinful city of Denver (located at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in the foothills)? Or the Giant Mother of God statue up 285 about 30 miles or so? Or the giant lighted cross on the mountain (put up there by Denver's megamortuary) to look over all the Denver suburban sinners at night?

Aside from the St. Louis Arch and the Golden Gate Bridge, there are lots of local monuments some of us have never heard of. And yeah, that first photo is beautiful!
posted by kozad at 6:56 AM on November 6, 2006


Hey, I've seen that before!
posted by brain_drain at 7:19 AM on November 6, 2006


I highly doubt that 20' or so counts as "the deep" or "the abyss." Consistent with religion's penchant for hyperbole, though.
posted by sourwookie at 7:19 AM on November 6, 2006


Gosh, that's beautiful.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:55 AM on November 6, 2006


...but dropping the statue in shallower water will increase the speed at which it becomes encrusted by reef growth. Submerged in deeper water, we'd have greater filtering of light through depth and thus less marine organisms to grow upon it. Many of the encrusting organisms have photosynthetic symbionts, which only do well in shallower (and thus warmer and sunnier) water.

Jesus of the Actual Abyss would just be sitting there, slowly rusting, watching the tubeworms play in the black smokers. How much fun is that? Jesus of the Barely Submerged, on the other hand, is growing a fine crop of sponges, corals, and other assorted invertebrates. It's pretty cool to look at. I'm not such a big fan of the symbology, but the slow degeneration and encrustation of the statue itself is awesome. It's become a living thing, not a stable dead hunk of metal.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:14 AM on November 6, 2006


God Lives Underwater.
posted by itchylick at 5:31 AM PST on November 6


Damn, beat me to it.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:18 AM on November 6, 2006


Reminds me of Respiro.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:13 AM on November 6, 2006


Neat little post, jonson. And stumcg, love The Lost Correspondent. Great, eerie stuff.
posted by mediareport at 9:53 AM on November 6, 2006


Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the Jesus statue in the first photo different from the one in the second two links? The sleeves are different.
posted by flod at 10:42 AM on November 6, 2006


flod -- I think you are right. Also, the mouth appears to be open in the first picture. But if you look at the close ups of the head in the second set of pictures, the mouth is not closed. So this raises the question: Who is that first picture?
posted by Faze at 11:17 AM on November 6, 2006


That's FRANKLIN Christ, Jesus's lesser known brother.
posted by jonson at 2:32 PM on November 6, 2006


Great post.

Also, stumcq, those are some of the creepiest images I've ever seen. This one in particular is nightmarish.
posted by aliasless at 3:41 PM on November 6, 2006


Great history link in the middle- I grew up in Miami and spent a lot of time snorkeling in that neck of the woods, but had no idea there were other brother statutes.
posted by louie at 4:47 PM on November 6, 2006


I was snorkeling there a few years ago. There was a bunch of ex-navy divers on the same charter as my family. One of them wrapped his legs around the statue's neck and gave two thumbs up. When we got back on the boat he started freaking out. It seems that the Christ's shoulders are covered with fire coral and that's a bad thing to have all over your inner thighs...
posted by Shanachie at 9:13 PM on November 7, 2006


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