Altar Your Idols
Adam was born in Ada, Oklahoma to his parents Tim and Paula Hall. He grew up in Stonewall where he attended school, then moved on to East Central where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. As a teen, Hall had watched his dad take ordinary tree stumps and turn them into art with a few hours, so he was excited to see what he could do. Over the past 12 years Hall has carved bears, cacti, roosters, fish, eagles, a giant cowboy, and several abstract and symbolic pieces. He achieves greater detail by staining and using a torch to burn in colors and highlights. “It’s not a full time job, I just do it in my free time or when I get a special order,” Hall says.
Besides the excitement of holding a tool that spins metal teeth around that can demolish a tree in seconds, why chainsaw sculpture? One of Hall’s professors in college continually asked the question, “Why? Why do you do this? What does this work of art say?” At the time, Hall’s answer was, “I don’t know...for a grade I guess... it says I'm trying my best”. His goal now is to create something with meaning. "It's hard as a sculptor to work in light of Exodus 20:4. It's the second commandment that instructs us not to make an image of anything in heaven, or on earth, or in the sea, and set it up as an idol for ourselves.... So I try, whenever possible, to sculpt things that will represent or remind us of Biblical principles. I know there's no way people would actually worship one of these sculptures in the way people would have thousands of years ago, but since there is sometimes significant money involved, I like for my work to serve a purpose beyond vanity and decoration." Hall is a graphic designer for The Gospel Station Network and the youth pastor at Union Valley Baptist Church. He teaches his students to use their crafts and talents, whatever they are, to lift up the name of the Lord.
Doing this has really given Hall the feeling he is finally answering the professor’s question of, “Why do you do this?”, and most importantly, he feels like he is answering the call God has on his life. You are all probably wondering at this point, “What in the world is the picture of the flaming stump?” Hall explains in his own words:
“The Altaring your Idols piece begins like a totem pole of contemporary America, and was inspired by Judges Chapter 6. On it are five symbols, which represent separate but intertwined types of evil; things that seem easily avoidable and obviously wrong, but are taking root in culture and setting themselves up as idols. They are: ammunition (violent hateful attitudes), money (greed), power (or technology), music (blending the others into a lifestyle), and sex as an industry and addiction. My purpose for this carving was to re-state the obvious, to call things for what they are and to ask viewers, myself included, to evaluate the influence that we have allowed these idols to have on our lives. Each symbol will hold a different meaning to each person, and each discovered meaning will have to be dealt with on an individual basis. My purpose in this sculpture is to encourage self evaluation and to promote the courage to burn down the things that own you. It was kind of odd, it took two days to build the sculpture - just happened to be a cold and rainy two days - and the whole time I knew the work wouldn't survive a week. Once it was complete, though, it had to be destroyed. I couldn't just build this statue glorifying all the worst things and leave it standing. So I burned it. But that's what being a Christian is really all about anyway - being able to sacrifice of yourself to love people and make God famous, and to let Jesus abundantly fill in the needs and voids in your life that this selflessness will create. To walk, you have to first stand up and take a step, no matter how awkward or difficult it seems to be, but it has to be done - so let’s move forward.”
To sum it all up, Hall quotes Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
-Interview From January 2012, by Adam Flanigan.
Besides the excitement of holding a tool that spins metal teeth around that can demolish a tree in seconds, why chainsaw sculpture? One of Hall’s professors in college continually asked the question, “Why? Why do you do this? What does this work of art say?” At the time, Hall’s answer was, “I don’t know...for a grade I guess... it says I'm trying my best”. His goal now is to create something with meaning. "It's hard as a sculptor to work in light of Exodus 20:4. It's the second commandment that instructs us not to make an image of anything in heaven, or on earth, or in the sea, and set it up as an idol for ourselves.... So I try, whenever possible, to sculpt things that will represent or remind us of Biblical principles. I know there's no way people would actually worship one of these sculptures in the way people would have thousands of years ago, but since there is sometimes significant money involved, I like for my work to serve a purpose beyond vanity and decoration." Hall is a graphic designer for The Gospel Station Network and the youth pastor at Union Valley Baptist Church. He teaches his students to use their crafts and talents, whatever they are, to lift up the name of the Lord.
Doing this has really given Hall the feeling he is finally answering the professor’s question of, “Why do you do this?”, and most importantly, he feels like he is answering the call God has on his life. You are all probably wondering at this point, “What in the world is the picture of the flaming stump?” Hall explains in his own words:
“The Altaring your Idols piece begins like a totem pole of contemporary America, and was inspired by Judges Chapter 6. On it are five symbols, which represent separate but intertwined types of evil; things that seem easily avoidable and obviously wrong, but are taking root in culture and setting themselves up as idols. They are: ammunition (violent hateful attitudes), money (greed), power (or technology), music (blending the others into a lifestyle), and sex as an industry and addiction. My purpose for this carving was to re-state the obvious, to call things for what they are and to ask viewers, myself included, to evaluate the influence that we have allowed these idols to have on our lives. Each symbol will hold a different meaning to each person, and each discovered meaning will have to be dealt with on an individual basis. My purpose in this sculpture is to encourage self evaluation and to promote the courage to burn down the things that own you. It was kind of odd, it took two days to build the sculpture - just happened to be a cold and rainy two days - and the whole time I knew the work wouldn't survive a week. Once it was complete, though, it had to be destroyed. I couldn't just build this statue glorifying all the worst things and leave it standing. So I burned it. But that's what being a Christian is really all about anyway - being able to sacrifice of yourself to love people and make God famous, and to let Jesus abundantly fill in the needs and voids in your life that this selflessness will create. To walk, you have to first stand up and take a step, no matter how awkward or difficult it seems to be, but it has to be done - so let’s move forward.”
To sum it all up, Hall quotes Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
-Interview From January 2012, by Adam Flanigan.