Participation in the Trompe l'Oeil Effect
Picture a glorious land-a land that borders the Virgin River near the town ofMesquite in Nevada, USA. In this place, which is situated just kilometres from the excess pleasures of Las Vegas, we can experience another kind of spectacle, one that permits transcendental and holy experiences. Well–virtual holy experiences! In this land of simulation we can interact with climactic and miraculous biblical moments: the parting of the Red Sea; Noah's Ark, complete with animals two by two; and a journey into the territory of Satan himself where we witness the tribulations of holographic damned souls. In the bible, Jesus Christ suffered forty torturous days and nights in the desert, testing his spiritual endurance against the temptations of the devil. On our own biblical journey, it's not the desert we traverse; instead we climb a thirty-three storey high version of Christ himself, to be rewarded for our efforts with a vision of the Holy Trinity on our arrival at the top. The entertainment value of these religious experiences emerges from their capacity to engulf us in realistic terms in their Hollywood style spectacle. Within these spaces, we can become like actors (perhaps like Charlton Heston himself) in a Cecil B. de Mille-like version of the bible.
Developed by the Quorum International consortium, this Holy Land theme park experience is due to open its doors after the arrival of the new millennium. The theme park will include a convention centre that caters to multiple religious groups. Even the Pope is rumoured as a possible participant in this on-coming holy spectacle. According to Daxx Edder, the head of Quorum, this will be a space that will 'promote... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline