In early Christianity, the Iconostasis was a screen that separated the nave from the sanctuary of a church, a role now usurped by iPhones, pervasive advertising, and social media. Religion and consumerism are now two sides of the same coin, with a consumeristic form of life performing the religious function of providing man with fleeting answers to the existential problem of meaning. Consumption today is more than simply buying goods: it is a means of circulating symbols, meanings, identities, and belonging. Like religion, consumerism is reinforced as a symbolic language. With dying malls being turned into churches, and abandoned churches being transformed into nightclubs, I have started to question the now inextricable nature of religion and consumerism. Iconostasis acknowledges (and celebrates) humanity’s suspension in the commercialized webs of significance that it has spun for itself. Perhaps the answers to our social, existential and transcendental questions lie within these complex webs. I have begun to ask myself – should I be worshiping www.amazon.god?
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