CANADIAN CONCEPTUALISTS REDEFINE CHILDHOOD IDEAL February 9, 2010: Canadian conceptualists Rushton Phillips, have made public a new mixed media series commenting upon the estimated 809 million people who have died in religious war since the origin of civilization. Originally released on November 11, 2009, ‘Sticks and Stones’ was expanded upon and re-released on February 16, 2010, as a reaction to ongoing religiously motivated hate-crimes. On January 8, 2010, the BBC reported an attack on three churches in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, carried out in the wake of a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah when referring to God. A week later, on January 19, 2010, renewed violence between Christian and Muslim gangs in the Nigerian city of Jos left at least 149 people dead. The project was inspired by the words of Dr. Richard Dawkins and redefines the childhood idea that ‘...names will never hurt you’, by spelling out the names of the main Abrahamic religions and deities with words constructed out of battle-size sticks and stones, punctuated by blood. The abstract nouns against a blank background represent the abstract notion of religion and god, and the physical and natural elements of the material reflect on the earthly, man-made nature of the subject. The outcome is a comment on killings done in the name of religions and the myths and equivocations told to children in an attempt to protect them from the spectrum of humanity, and prolong their ignorance.