A prominent Russian architecture firm has canceled plans for a real-life Eye of Sauron installation over the city of Moscow, due to protests from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Svechenie, also of Moscow, had made headlines when it announced its intention to install a 3.3 meter light effect atop a skyscraper in the city’s IQ business district.
The effect, which would project a yonic symbol into the center of the sphere, had been intended (indirectly) to tie in with the forthcoming The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies film, which hits theaters on Friday.
Soon after plans were announced, though, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church began to criticize the idea, objecting primarily to the notion that a symbol of supreme evil and omnipotence–whether fictional or not–would tower over Muscovites as they went about their daily toil.
Said Vsevold Chaplain, the Church’s head of public affairs,
Such a symbol of the triumph of evil is rising up over the city, becoming practically the highest object in the city. Is that good or bad? I’m afraid it’s more likely bad. Just don’t be surprised later if something goes wrong with the city.
The Church also referred to the Eye as a “demonic symbol.”
The idea also began to draw comparisons to Russian President Vladimir “Poots” Putin, whose turn toward a surveillance state has evoked unpleasant memories of Soviet Russia for many.
So, Svechenie withdrew their plans and issued an apology, stating (via Facebook’s Translation function) “The project has no religious and political overtones. And not wanting the negativity in any form, stop training project. We absolutely did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings, since the light sculpture, and want to make sincere apologies for the situation.”
Poots himself had no public statement.
