blog.sinden.org

Dear The American Organist, periodical journal of the American Guild of Organists,

You and I have had our issues about graphic design before, but this time you've really crossed the line.

Upon retrieving my latest issue (April, 2011) from the mailbox, I was surprised to see this offensive image:

The cover of your periodical would be rather lovely this month if not for the fact that the image of the face of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is fully obscured by the logo.

Congratulations on decapitating Jesus.

Given that the name of the church is Church of the Ascension, did you realize that the subject of the John La Farge painting you obscure is, in fact, Jesus Christ himself in the act of ascending into heaven?

How can you expect your readers to maintain artistic integrity in their fields, if your logo obscures the subject of one of the greatest murals in America?

It's clear what you want the subject of this photo to be: the organ -- but not even the organ case is fully pictured on this cover.

I just don't get it!

And, are you aware that many Christians are celebrating the Feast of the Resurrection (also known as "Easter") this month (24 April), a celebration that centers on the figure of Jesus Christ?

Interestingly, many Americans are Christian (about 78.4% last I checked), and many American Organists (presumably the ones your publication is named for) work at Christian Churches. Just to bring it full circle for you, these same churches are celebrating Easter.

Could you be any more insensitive?

I mean, really, how are we supposed to take the stuff you say about clergy-organist relations seriously when you behead the Savior on the cover of your journal?

I really do look forward to reading why you did this in a future issue of your magazine.

Sincerely (with much more sincerity about the graphic design than any religious issues),

David Sinden
Proprietor, Sinden.org
The Jean Julius Christian Sibelius Chair of Musicology and Christian Polemics (Emeritus), University of Blogaria

Labels: AGO, Ascension, Church of the Ascension (New York), organs, TAO