Eye of Sauron Installation in Russia Halted Because the World Is Joyless and/or Orthodox Church Criticism

Eye of Sauron In Moscow. Be afraid, be very afraid. #RussianMordor pic.twitter.com/wY2XfSOxEM

— Denis (@anglichanin_lj) December 8, 2014

I may be only a moderate Lord of the Rings/Tolkien fan, but I am a massive “Eye of Sauron hovering ominously over Moscow” fan. The Russian Orthodox Church doesn’t quite see… eye to eye with me on that one, and they’ve ruined it for everyone.

The concept art above was created by the art group Svechenie and looked exactly like the Eye of Sauron through no mere coincidence. The installation was planned to be a deliberate, though unaffiliated, celebration of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and was supposed to light up on the 21st floor of a skyscraper for the movie’s release on December 11.

But now that the Orthodox Church has had their say, it looks like there will be none for the Dark Lord on his dark throne. The Telegraph reports that Russian Orthodox Church head of public affairs Vsevolod Chaplin said in a Russian radio appearance, “This is a demonic symbol. 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.”

What, like a bunch of Uruk-hai are going to pop out of the ground and start pillaging? We’ll never find out, because when the Orthodox Church said, “You shall not pass,” Svechenie decided to cancel the project themselves. EW says the artists let everyone know they didn’t mean any insidious subtext behind the installation; they’re just really into Tolkien. Hmm, maybe they should go the Colbert route next time.

Hey, at least they managed to get rid of the Eye of Sauron with all everyone’s fingers intact. Not everyone gets away that lucky.

(via TOR)

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?