I am building my own religion. Religion is not an entirely accurate description for what I’m creating, a faith-based system is more suitable. The order in which I’m developing this system doesn’t follow the expected logic of such a pursuit.

One would expect a logic such as:

• receive revelation from GOD (or other higher power)
• preach
• scripture
• gather congregants
• settle in
  • create music
  • evangelize through various methods
  • build a space to congregate
  • habitation for the administrator
  • parking
  • propaganda
  • and so on

I’m building my system in reverse order, starting with only a fragment of the architecture, propaganda, and music.

The pursuit of the faith-based system has become an extended, complex and multi-faceted work. In the past year I’ve built a fragment of the congregation space, Imitatio Dei and have begun developing the scripture. In "The Subject of Tonight’s Sermon is. " I created 20 large-scale posters that plastered the exterior of a vacant storefront in the pedestrian plaza in downtown Riverside CA. Accompanying the posters are two hymn/gospel/choral songs created in collaboration with Jon Langford of the Mekons. The songs are broadcast to pedestrians 24hours a day through a speaker located in the public plaza.

Next I’m designing and constructing a parking structure for the congregants for my &lsdquo;system&rsdquo;, applying for tax-exempt status and initiating an open competition for the design of a larger space for congregation.

With this, as with many of my projects I’ve begun with the architecture. Most of my realized and unrealized works resembles architecture, leaning heavily on it by way of tectonics, typology and archetypes. For most, architecture invokes a utilitarian structure with a defined knowable program; house, church, garage, prison. I think of it in terms of the abhorrent program; the house is Theodore Kaczynski’s cabin in Montana, the church Jim Jones’s compound, the garage abandoned in the back alley inhabited by squatters, and the prison is across the border in Mexico where the US out-sources incarceration services. Mies said “form follows function”. It makes sense that architectural design should be driven by the future program of its inhabitants. I point out when the opposite becomes true, that the building manipulates the user. For example; early American Quakers constructed a panoptic prison for the solitary confinement of inmates. They believed this design would bring reform to the criminals by way of a religious conversion. What happened is the vast majority of prisoners went insane. My interest in architecture and by extension urban planning is weighted more in semiotics than tectonics. I manipulate the sentiment that comes with the rules of engagement that archetypal structures impose.