Choosing a Way Through

Choosing a Way Through Commentary by Zara Worth Cite Share Show Bible Passage Thresholds are a central image in both Matthew 7:13–14 and Luke 13:22–30. Each Gospel describes a choice between a narrow and a wide gateway. Figuratively, the proposal of a choice between these gateways makes distinct a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ spiritual path. In each extract, readers are encouraged to choose the narrow door representing a life following Jesus. By choosing passage through the narrow door, we are promised a righteous life and a place in the kingdom. The installation PN1 Penetrável (PN1 Penetrable) by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica is itself composed of narrow doors. PN1 was the first in a series of installations that Oiticica called ‘penetrables’ owing to their construction of spaces that audiences can occupy and reconfigure. PN1 comprises a cabin, painted in bright yellows and oranges, into which a person can enter through sliding panels. Audiences can slide these panels into different positions, determining the configuration of the work for themselves. The active role played by the audience in the constitution of Oiticica’s work speaks to the significance of choice in Luke and Matthew. As audiences determine the form of PN1, individuals play a role in determining their own narrow and wide gates. Thinking the words of Matthew and Luke through PN1 invites us to think of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ as subject to change rather than as predefined categories, while reminding us of our own responsibility in the determination of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ choices. Furthermore, as thought through PN1, the metaphoric narrow and wide doors from Luke’s and Matthew’s Gospels may be conceived of as plural rather than singular. The figurative thresholds of the narrow and wide gates might be understood as an infinite number of sliding doors that must be navigated in pursuit of a life well-lived, that, like the form of PN1, is not fixed, but in a continual state of becoming. References Small, Irene. V. 2016. Hélio Oiticica: Folding the Frame (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)