Hand Sanitizer Stands

Of all the new rituals we’ve developed for COVID19, the hand-washing ablutions are among the most recognizably, traditionally, “relig-ish” in nature. Yes, there’s a straightforward hygienic reason for doing it. But finding ways to prettify this process, to make it less of a tedious, compulsive annoyance, and more of what Quakers call a centering act, an act of intentionality, helps me to keep some of my sanity intact. These hand sanitizer stands were designed with this in mind. And the visual interest down low, I think, makes for less of a tripping hazard in an active, populated interior space. Custom order here.

Diary of an Arts Pastor

David O. Taylor writes on his blog:

**“I really, really like this.**
I say liturgical artist Erling Hope gets a gold star for this project which found a way to include regular folk in the process of making really beautiful work.” He’s talking about a project I did with Reconcilliation United Methodist Church in Durham, North Carolina, collaborating with the congregants to generate a series of images and design motifs for their worship space.

Bluetooth Speakers!

One-of-a-kind 3" cubes fabricated from etched Purkinje Board. Compatible with iPhone and Android platforms. Comes with USB charging cord. Call or write for availability or quantity purchases.

ACS Forum Presentation

The Architecture, Culture, Spirituality Forum invited me to present a paper titled Pattern at Play: Material Hymnody and the Orchestration of Liturgical Space at their 2011 gathering in North Carolina.

The “Eyes Wide Open” project

of the American Friends Service Committee, a public, temporary memorial to those killed in the Iraq war, featured in the talk. In this roving installation, an empty pair of combat boots represented each American service person killed in the war, and varying numbers of regular “civilian” shoes represented the unknowable numbers of civilians dying violently. The effectiveness of the use of the boots is difficult to convey. Each boot had a name tag tied to it.

In the paper, I contrast the Eyes Wide Open project with James Turrell’s Live Oaks Meetinghouse, loosely engaging an idea of how we build liturgical space.

“The ways a congregation goes about “doing” liturgical art are evolving. The iconic model of the commissioned artist, adrift in the existential ocean of solitary studio practice, is giving way to more collaborative approaches. But collaboration without some sort of informed guidance will have difficulty crafting a clear vision. The methods I am proposing and developing suggest new ways to enact this collaborative approach, while generating genuinely useful and provocative design elements for the contemporary worship environment.”

Custom Side Tables

Fabricated for ceramic artist Bruce Sherman, incorporating ceramic slabs into the table tops.