Despite the many depictions of Christ crucified in existence, Collishaw wasn’t aware of there being any images that actually covered a period of time, where the shivers and spasms of the tortured body were evident.
The crucifixion to us is an emblem without movement. Collishaw wanted to create an image more faithful to the real event; replacing the poise of a human statue with the troubling sight of a man in the throes of death.
By projecting looped video footage of himself, crucified and twitching, Collishaw introduced time as a vital aspect of this iconic scene.