"Hell's Gates II: Retribution" - Tim Coghlan
BACK IN STOCK
"Hell's Gates II: Retribution," a provocative work that reveals the instability of American society, religion, and the state through recurring images of church fires.
Churches are burning.
Hundreds of churches are engulfed in flames, their vast sanctuaries incinerated. Stained glass shatters, and spires, bell towers, and domes collapse. Firefighters desperately try to extinguish the inferno, but their efforts seem almost futile against the immense flames.
Locals, congregants, and accidental onlookers stare blankly at the scene, their faces red in the glow of the fire. Reporters rush to the site, eager to capture more shocking footage. Eventually, the buildings collapse, and the ruins smolder for days.
In this series, Tim Coghlan, the founder of Knowledge Editions and a graphic designer based in Melbourne, Australia, explores the meaning of religious symbols and imagery by collecting photographs of burning churches from around the world.
Previous works utilized low-resolution and amateur photographs gathered from the internet, but "Retribution" uses still images cut from video footage, focusing exclusively on church fires that have occurred in the United States since 2018.
Like a Hollywood sequel, this work pushes the themes of its predecessor further, on a grander and more intense scale. What Tim depicts is not merely burning churches. What he reveals is the shaking of values and authority that American society has believed in.
In America, once considered an "exceptional nation," political division, religious extremism, and the escalation of violence have become increasingly prominent in recent years. In such a situation, the church, a symbol of authority and community, is also portrayed as not absolute but fragile.
Through images of burning churches, this work shows us how grand symbols like "nation" and "religion" are crumbling. And the viewers are left to simply sit and witness the spectacle.
224 pages / 120 × 192mm / Soft Cover / Published by Knowledge Editions & Perimeter Editions
Tim Coghlan: www.instagram.com/dotheknowledge
Knowledge Editions: www.instagram.com/knowledge_editions
Tags:
