What Role Does Destruction Play in Alternative Spiritual Practices, and Can This Be Considered a Form of Iconoclasm?

While traditional iconoclasm focuses on the deliberate destruction of religious images or symbols to challenge orthodoxy, destruction in alternative spiritual practices often symbolizes transformation, renewal, and the breaking of outdated paradigms.

Through an exploration of ritualized acts of destruction in the work of contemporary artists who work within (or inspired by) alternative spiritualities, this lecture/workshop will discuss iconoclasm in alternative spiritualities as compared to historical or institutionalized forms of iconoclasm with a special emphasis placed on alternative spiritualities that challenge traditional forms of sacred art, asking how iconoclasm reshapes the relationship between art and the sacred.

As a spiritual practitioner, artist and instructor of religion and the arts, I propose to present on art and the artistic engagement with the sacred through a dual lenses of reverence and rupture. I will look into historical acts of iconoclasm, from the relic’s role as an enduring object and target of iconoclasm, to contemporary artistic practices that consider the ritual destruction of art as a spiritual practice. The approach to this topic will be through a consideration of how, in breaking sacred forms, one can generate new meanings and engage with spiritualities in new ways.