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

♪ We could've had it aaaaaaaaaaaaaall ♪

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.

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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)

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Dan Van Winkle
Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct <em>Geekosystem</em> (RIP), and then at <em>The Mary Sue</em> starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at <em>Smash Bros.</em>

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