shinjikun1
New member
I\'d just like to pass this along.
(Originally Posted by Victor Hardy in regards to Golden Demon UK 2004.)
Quote:
Hi guys,
Of course being disqualified was very disappointing, but I have no
hard feelings about it or towards GW. I painted what I wanted to
paint--what I was passionate about--and put every ounce of me into my
piece. I spent two years and between 500-600 hours on this piece--
working on nothing else. There are well-over one hundred and thirty
freehand faces, bodies and other images throughout the model. Every
inch of the surface of this very large model is covered in free
hand. This is in my opinion my finest work and I have no regrets
carrying out my interpretation of the daemon prince. I am very
pleased with it despite the outcome of the Golden Demon and still
enjoyed my trip to England very much.
I would like to ask the group for a big favor. I put so much effort
into this mini and I still want to re-enter it into a future contest
(possibly modifying the piece slightly to meet the specific
objections that were told to me about the imagery). It would mean
allot to me if you would refrain from posting any pictures of my mini
and for those who have it on their sites to please remove them. I
want to limit the exposure of the mini. The first look at a
miniature is always the best look and you do not get second chance at
a first impression. I know this is the internet and you are free to
do what you want, but this would mean allot to me. Both GW and other
websites have agreed to do this so that my effort will not be
wasted. I promise to supply this forum with high quality pics as
well as a detailed article about the mini and its iconography when I
get a chance to compete.
On to the subject of disqualification--GW is a company which I very
much like and if they felt I pushed it too far then that\'s their
decision. Despite this, GW has treated me very well over the years
and continues to do so. They can publish what they want. However,
it should be noted that Alan Merrit, the former head of the design
team stated that he thought that my mini was perfectly consistent
with GW imagery, reminiscent of John Blache\'s work, and that he could
not understand the judges decision. So there is not exactly
consensus on this issue at=GW.
I was a little surprised of the outcome given that Birmingham is the
home of Ozzy Ozbourne and Black Sabbath, I didn\'t think they would be
that prudish about this kind of stuff—After all GW is not quite
Disney and created a dark vision of the fate of earth, including
demon worship, God-Emperor of Man and the causal genocide of
billions.
But GW is a company that is in the business of selling miniatures and
must make their own decisions on how their product is portrayed. But
likewise, I consider myself to be an artist and must be true to what
I want to depict. Unlike GW, I am not in the business of painting
product to further commercial aims, but rather paint mini to be
appreciated by myself and others, as well as contribute to the hobby
beyond GW as a whole—sometimes these goals diverge from that of a
profit minded institution that must maintain a certain corporate
image.
Art has always been the arena to shake things up a bit. That is what
keeps everything interesting. How boring the demons would be if we
all just kept on copying the very strict imagery presented to us by a
large corporation. Variation pushes the hobby forward and more than
once challenges to the strict imagery of GW in the Golden Demon has
shaped and influenced the future imagery of GW itself. Besides--What
fun is the golden demons without a little controversy?
I want to tell you a little about the iconography of my mini. Anyone
who says that Roman Catholic imagery is something that is not within
the established imagery of GW just hasn\'t been paying attention to
GW\'s imagery in the 40k universe. Consider this:
1. First, the Ecclesiarchy of the Imperium is undoubtedly an
allegory of the historical Roman Catholic Church.
2. Confessor is a term itself take from the catholic church and the
minis are modeled off the apparel of the pope.
3. Sisters of battle are basically \"space nuns.\"
4. Missionaries and priests are well obviously missionaries and
priests from the catholic church.
5. The Inquisition is modeled off the \"inquisition\" that
historically pursued heretics
6. Grey knights and Black templars are the historical \"knights
templar\" that were connected to the church.
7. Saint Celestine is well \"a saint.\"
8. The split between the Thorian and Puritan Inquisitors of the
Imperium is a historical reference to the Great Schism of the
Catholic Church.
9. Sebastion Thor\'s reformation of the Ecclesiarchy is a historical
allegory for Martin Luther.
10. The pursuit of rogue psykers is an allegory of the burning of
witches (indeed they are called witch hunters).
11. Many of the Sisters Icons are loosely modeled off of real
religious icons.
I could describe the parallels all day long. Indeed, there is no
stronger influence on GW\'s 40k imagery than that of the Roman
Catholic Church.
Now lets get to my miniature.
The biggest Roman Catholic Allegory in the 40k Universe is the found
the central figure of the 40k story line--the emperor himself.
The emperor is a super human who makes the ultimate most agonizing
self sacrifice so that all of humanity may live. Who does that sound
like?
The cross is the golden throne.
The incarceration of the emperor in the golden throne is the
crucifixion.
The emperor\'s \"crucifixion\" in the golden throne powers the
astronomicom [which allows space travel]l--the end result is that all
of humanity is saved—Just as Jesus\'s sacrifice saved us.
The ecclesiarchy and the inquisition of the Imperium rule in the name
of the \"crucified\" emperor just as the Ecclesiarchy and Inquisition
ruled in the middle ages in the name of Jesus.
Make no mistake about it, the story of the emperor is the same story
of that of Jesus.
Now my miniature depicts a Word Bearer demon prince. Word bearers,
according to the Chaos codex are skilled in the art of \"counter
oratory\", twisting the words of the imperial creed. They are known
for creating blasphemic banners debasing the Imperial religion. So
of course, if you noticed all of my iconography are slightly twisted
versions of Catholic iconography [the same imagery used by the
imperial Ecclesiarchy] depicting various events in both the 40k
storyline and the history of the Catholic church. They represent the
perversion of the imperial creed that no doubt a demon prince of the
word bears would be engaged in. Each scene depicts a dual message
applicable to both the 40k universe and the Catholic church. I will
eventually write an article detailing the many scenes on the model.
Essentially my models expands upon the analogy of the Emperor to
Jesus.
So I do take issue with the statement that I was careless of the
rules on the \"spirit of the GW universe.\" I may have expanded the
analogy that was already there--but there was nothing \"careless\"
about it.
Nonetheless, I had a great time at the demons and have no hard
feelings about the result. I think my miniatures pushed the
boundaries of theme, imagery, technical proficiency and level of
effort--and that is enough to satisfy me. Thanks for the support on
this board and others.
Best Regards,
Victor Hardy
(Originally Posted by Victor Hardy in regards to Golden Demon UK 2004.)
Quote:
Hi guys,
Of course being disqualified was very disappointing, but I have no
hard feelings about it or towards GW. I painted what I wanted to
paint--what I was passionate about--and put every ounce of me into my
piece. I spent two years and between 500-600 hours on this piece--
working on nothing else. There are well-over one hundred and thirty
freehand faces, bodies and other images throughout the model. Every
inch of the surface of this very large model is covered in free
hand. This is in my opinion my finest work and I have no regrets
carrying out my interpretation of the daemon prince. I am very
pleased with it despite the outcome of the Golden Demon and still
enjoyed my trip to England very much.
I would like to ask the group for a big favor. I put so much effort
into this mini and I still want to re-enter it into a future contest
(possibly modifying the piece slightly to meet the specific
objections that were told to me about the imagery). It would mean
allot to me if you would refrain from posting any pictures of my mini
and for those who have it on their sites to please remove them. I
want to limit the exposure of the mini. The first look at a
miniature is always the best look and you do not get second chance at
a first impression. I know this is the internet and you are free to
do what you want, but this would mean allot to me. Both GW and other
websites have agreed to do this so that my effort will not be
wasted. I promise to supply this forum with high quality pics as
well as a detailed article about the mini and its iconography when I
get a chance to compete.
On to the subject of disqualification--GW is a company which I very
much like and if they felt I pushed it too far then that\'s their
decision. Despite this, GW has treated me very well over the years
and continues to do so. They can publish what they want. However,
it should be noted that Alan Merrit, the former head of the design
team stated that he thought that my mini was perfectly consistent
with GW imagery, reminiscent of John Blache\'s work, and that he could
not understand the judges decision. So there is not exactly
consensus on this issue at=GW.
I was a little surprised of the outcome given that Birmingham is the
home of Ozzy Ozbourne and Black Sabbath, I didn\'t think they would be
that prudish about this kind of stuff—After all GW is not quite
Disney and created a dark vision of the fate of earth, including
demon worship, God-Emperor of Man and the causal genocide of
billions.
But GW is a company that is in the business of selling miniatures and
must make their own decisions on how their product is portrayed. But
likewise, I consider myself to be an artist and must be true to what
I want to depict. Unlike GW, I am not in the business of painting
product to further commercial aims, but rather paint mini to be
appreciated by myself and others, as well as contribute to the hobby
beyond GW as a whole—sometimes these goals diverge from that of a
profit minded institution that must maintain a certain corporate
image.
Art has always been the arena to shake things up a bit. That is what
keeps everything interesting. How boring the demons would be if we
all just kept on copying the very strict imagery presented to us by a
large corporation. Variation pushes the hobby forward and more than
once challenges to the strict imagery of GW in the Golden Demon has
shaped and influenced the future imagery of GW itself. Besides--What
fun is the golden demons without a little controversy?
I want to tell you a little about the iconography of my mini. Anyone
who says that Roman Catholic imagery is something that is not within
the established imagery of GW just hasn\'t been paying attention to
GW\'s imagery in the 40k universe. Consider this:
1. First, the Ecclesiarchy of the Imperium is undoubtedly an
allegory of the historical Roman Catholic Church.
2. Confessor is a term itself take from the catholic church and the
minis are modeled off the apparel of the pope.
3. Sisters of battle are basically \"space nuns.\"
4. Missionaries and priests are well obviously missionaries and
priests from the catholic church.
5. The Inquisition is modeled off the \"inquisition\" that
historically pursued heretics
6. Grey knights and Black templars are the historical \"knights
templar\" that were connected to the church.
7. Saint Celestine is well \"a saint.\"
8. The split between the Thorian and Puritan Inquisitors of the
Imperium is a historical reference to the Great Schism of the
Catholic Church.
9. Sebastion Thor\'s reformation of the Ecclesiarchy is a historical
allegory for Martin Luther.
10. The pursuit of rogue psykers is an allegory of the burning of
witches (indeed they are called witch hunters).
11. Many of the Sisters Icons are loosely modeled off of real
religious icons.
I could describe the parallels all day long. Indeed, there is no
stronger influence on GW\'s 40k imagery than that of the Roman
Catholic Church.
Now lets get to my miniature.
The biggest Roman Catholic Allegory in the 40k Universe is the found
the central figure of the 40k story line--the emperor himself.
The emperor is a super human who makes the ultimate most agonizing
self sacrifice so that all of humanity may live. Who does that sound
like?
The cross is the golden throne.
The incarceration of the emperor in the golden throne is the
crucifixion.
The emperor\'s \"crucifixion\" in the golden throne powers the
astronomicom [which allows space travel]l--the end result is that all
of humanity is saved—Just as Jesus\'s sacrifice saved us.
The ecclesiarchy and the inquisition of the Imperium rule in the name
of the \"crucified\" emperor just as the Ecclesiarchy and Inquisition
ruled in the middle ages in the name of Jesus.
Make no mistake about it, the story of the emperor is the same story
of that of Jesus.
Now my miniature depicts a Word Bearer demon prince. Word bearers,
according to the Chaos codex are skilled in the art of \"counter
oratory\", twisting the words of the imperial creed. They are known
for creating blasphemic banners debasing the Imperial religion. So
of course, if you noticed all of my iconography are slightly twisted
versions of Catholic iconography [the same imagery used by the
imperial Ecclesiarchy] depicting various events in both the 40k
storyline and the history of the Catholic church. They represent the
perversion of the imperial creed that no doubt a demon prince of the
word bears would be engaged in. Each scene depicts a dual message
applicable to both the 40k universe and the Catholic church. I will
eventually write an article detailing the many scenes on the model.
Essentially my models expands upon the analogy of the Emperor to
Jesus.
So I do take issue with the statement that I was careless of the
rules on the \"spirit of the GW universe.\" I may have expanded the
analogy that was already there--but there was nothing \"careless\"
about it.
Nonetheless, I had a great time at the demons and have no hard
feelings about the result. I think my miniatures pushed the
boundaries of theme, imagery, technical proficiency and level of
effort--and that is enough to satisfy me. Thanks for the support on
this board and others.
Best Regards,
Victor Hardy
