JERRY GORDON AND RABBI JON HAUSMAN INTERVIEW LARS VILKS
New English Review
Interview with Lars Vilks: Vigorous Defender of Free Expression in Art
by Jerry Gordon and Jon Hausman (November 2010)
Lars Vilks, Swedish artist and controversial art theoretician, created sketches of Mohammed as a Roundabout Dog for a “Dog as Art” exhibit in 2007. Swedish news reports about withdrawal of his sketches at sponsored exhibits led to an eruption of controversy and threats against his life from Muslims in Sweden and around the World. That roiling controversy has made him an iconic figure in the conflict between Freedom of Expression versus Islamic totalitarian doctrine. Vilks was recently in America for a series of talks sponsored by the International Free Press Society (IFPS) with scheduled events in Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto and Ottawa. Two of those events, Philadelphia and Ottawa, were cancelled because of alleged security reasons. Even the event in Boston had to be moved to a secure private setting from a local synagogue.Vilks’ Theory of Art
Lars Vilks is one of Sweden’s most distinctive contemporary artists. He holds a Doctorate in Art History and has received academic appointments throughout Sweden. He taught art history and art theory at a number of universities. His artistry focuses on process. As Vilks explained, his task as an artist and as a proponent of absolute freedom of expression is to test the limits of artistic expression in each piece, thereby creating several slightly different versions of each drawing. In so doing, he presses against the conventional wisdom that a design has inherent boundaries.
Vilks considers art similar to a bow and arrow. You pull the bow back and shoot the arrow. However, you don’t want to hit the bulls-eye. You want to strike slightly off-center. In so doing, you have all kinds of creative possibilities within the initial construct that you envision. A true artist never knows where he or she will end up in the creative process. A cartoonist knows the exact, defined message he or she wants to convey from the start. Not so with the artist. Vilks’ artwork is very conceptual. His other work which prompted much controversy were the wooden sculptures of Ladonia at the Kullaberg Nature Reserve in Sweden.
In addition to drawings and sculptures, Vilks has also assembled video art projects. One video that he created criticizes those he feels should have defended his stance on the absolute right and freedom to expression. They have either criticized him for the “Muhammad” drawings or condemned him for not exercising self-censorship. Vilks sees his objective in art to provoke. Vilks can be seen as an equal opportunity offender to what constitutes convention and authority.
R’aison d’être for the Mohammed Sketch
Vilks created the Mohammed sketch for an exhibition in Sweden entitled “Dog in the Roundabout.” He explained that Sweden’s road/highway system is dotted with roundabouts (rotaries). Often, parks are created in such rotaries or there is simply open area in which people take their dogs for walks. In 2006, there was a national competition to create dogs in roundabouts. With his artist’s eye, Vilks drew dogs in the roundabout. He then began to play with different forms of dogs…solid form, blurry form, different sizes, dogs in different settings, interchanging the body of a dog with the head of a man, Mohammed. Vilks has stated that this series of drawings stirred the ire of the Muslim world. The catalyst for his sketches was the growing violence and changes in Swedish cities caused by Muslim immigrants who displayed unbridled anti-Semitism and anti-Western animus.Islamic Taboos against Figurative Depiction of Muhammad
Vilks controversial sketches of Muhammad as a roundabout dog require delving into Islamic doctrine and history.
The Qur’an does not explicitly forbid images of Muhammad, but there are a few Hadith which have explicitly prohibited Muslims from creating the visual depictions of figures under any circumstances. Most contemporary Sunni Muslims are particularly averse to visual representations of Muhammad. The key concern is that the use of images can encourage idolatry, where the image becomes more important than what it represents.
Many Muslims take a stricter view of the supplemental traditions. Such adherents will sometimes challenge any depiction of Muhammad, including those created and published by non-Muslims.
Verbal descriptions of Muhammad in the Hadith abound. Ibn Sa’ad’s Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, contain numerous verbal descriptions of Muhammad. Athar Husain gives a non-pictorial description of his appearance, dress, etc. in “The Message of Mohammad.”
Great controversy surrounds visual depictions. The Qur’an forbids idolatry, but does not specifically forbid representative art.
“Behold! He said to his father and his people, “What are these images, to which ye are (so assiduously) devoted?” They said, “We found our fathers worshipping them.” He said, “Indeed ye have been in manifest error – ye and your fathers.” Sura 21:52-54
The figure of Muhammad seldom occurs in a picture painted by a Muslim artist, and when it is found the face is generally veiled or the prophet is symbolically represented by a flame of golden light. To do otherwise is to court blasphemy, according to Muslim religious leaders.
The past decade has witnessed controversies over any depiction of Muhammad, whether caricatures, cartoons, artwork, television shows, or film. Lars Vilks’ drawings of The Dog in a Roundabout series, one of which featured the Head of Muhammad on the body of a dog (an unclean animal in Islam) were perhaps one of the most controversial.
We had the opportunity to interview Vilks upon his return to Sweden following the IFPS American ‘tour’ and prior to his second Uppsala University lecture.
Jerry Gordon: Professor Vilks, you are considered a prominent member of the post-modern conceptual art movement in Sweden. Could you tell us about your views on conceptual art and the importance of free speech?
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