Tasteful Play: Christian Artists, Ambiguity and the Theo-politics of Taste.

Émile Durkheim (1912) argues that art is an essential part of religious life-it 'refreshes a spirit worn down by all that is overburdening in day-to-day labor' (385). For Durkheim, making art in religious contexts is akin to sacred play. We explore how contemporary Christian artists use play, frivolity and experimentation to intentionally, and more often unintentionally, challenge, or at least, reveal various social and theo-political dynamics within their religious communities.