Matt Collishaw has created a truly amazing piece that depicts the massacre of the innocents, a biblical recount of the slaughtering of babies ordered by King Herod. Jonathan Jones writes a review of this piece, All things fall. The peice is a 3D printed sculpture which is animated by a turntable in a sort of optical illusion; this is a zoetrope. It is equally beautiful as it is haunting. Piles of dead babies and men beating women are represented by these marble-like figures, moving as if robotic and animate. The scale is rather daunting; I would have expected the sculpture to sit on a small table, however it would easily tower over the average sized man. This scale is invasive on the observer, almost like the elephant in the room, you don't want to look closer but you must.

Jonathan Jones makes some rather interesting points in his review. He says that 'Art is drawn to violence because in violence the body expresses itself fully'. I could not agree more with this statement as I think that in violence and general times of terror we are completely vulnerable. The piece is a matter of fact and doesn't hide any parts of the story, which I really respect. Jones also says that 'All Things Fall uses state-of-the-art technology, Victorian optical gimmickry and a deep feeling for art history to question the way we look at violence.' This juxtoposition of 3D printing with Victorican optical illusions/pre-animation is quite a beautiful way to depict this horrific scene. I would never have presumed that the sculpture was made using a 3D printer as it has such a traditional look to it, especially when surrounded by all of those marble statues. I have also tried to play with the viewers perceptions in my piece as I have sculpted the relics and reliquaries then replicated using a casting method and photoshop techniques. I do love the idea of animating my sculpture by making a zoetrope. Animating my relics would essentially be materializing them before the observers eyes. Perhaps I can begin by animating drawings first?  

Collishaw's zoetrope resembles Peter Paul Rubens painting Massacre of the innocents (below). This painting is a far more static and dated representation of the event. A biblical research associate, Gordon Franz, questions the factuality of the massacre of the innocents and points out evidence supporting and opposing the legitimacy. Just as the result of my research into Saintly relics, I find myself a bit skeptical of the truth in this tale .