Solvent Transfer and the Reimagining of Hell
Religious Narrative in Rauschenberg's Inferno Series
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5654599 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Donghang Wu (0009-0004-3597-8284, Northeast Normal University), Xinjia Zhang (0000-0002-4539-9743, Yanshan University), Fan Wang (0000-0002-9869-9504, Northeast Normal University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1290 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16101290 |
| OpenAlex | W4415046950 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
In an era of accelerating secularization, art serves as a vital mediator for non-institutional forms of spirituality. This article examines Robert Rauschenberg's Inferno series (1958-1960) as a case study of how modern art reconfigures religious narratives to engage with humanity's "ultimate concerns." Through his solvent transfer technique, Rauschenberg dismantles Dante's theological structure and reconfigures it into a fragmented, participatory experience of spirituality. The argument develops in two parts. First, it demonstrates how Rauschenberg secularizes sacred imagery to portray modern social realities as a "contemporary inferno" marked by systemic violence and commodified desire. Second, it theorizes that the materiality of solvent transfer-its blurring, erasure, and contingent traces-creates what may be called "material spirituality," a sacred presence perceived through absence and indexical trace. Within this reconfigured structure, spectatorship itself takes on a ritualistic character. When confronted with fragmented and unstable imagery, viewers engage in active, contemplative practice, transforming the act of viewing into a secular ritual of attentiveness. Thus, Rauschenberg's Inferno radically redefines the religious function of art-not as redemption, but as the cultivation of fragile yet enduring forms of spirituality within the estrangement of modern life
Commodification · Contemplation · Indexicality · Legitimacy · Narrative · Religious experience · Spirituality · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |