Religion vs. Secularism In Art, Or How Shahzia Sikander and Jim Shaw Turn Social Alienation Into Spiritual Engagement

A Chemical Christmas to All! seems to be the message of Shahzia Sikander's scathing Oil and GasPipeline Christmas Tree and Jim Shaw's Angel of the Chemical Plant. When we stop trying to define the truth for others we can begin to appreciate to what extent the society we inhabit is an ongoing negotiation between the secular and the religious. The social contract keeping the peace between us proves only as tolerant as the quid pro quo that guarantees its citizens' mutual survival. In many senses t...