The Arch-Hive, stylized as the ARCH-HIVE, is an

artist collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

in Utah. They are known for

art exhibitions An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...

and

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

that explore experiences with

culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The basic beliefs and traditions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) have a cultural impact that distinguishes church members, practices and activities. The culture is geographically concentrated in the Mormon Cor ...

and their

beliefs A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

Founding

The anonymous artist Laz and fellow artist Camilla Stark founded the art collective in 2019. Influenced by the 1960s

Art and Belief movement Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, their goals for the collective include challenging

binary thinking Splitting, also called binary thinking, dichotomous thinking, black-and-white thinking, all-or-nothing thinking, or thinking in extremes, is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative ...

, fostering inclusion of unconventional perspectives, and helping other amateur artists. The group has gone on to create

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

art, prose, and poetry about topics ranging from

Utah Lake Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the center of Utah County, Utah, United States. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo- Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Sa ...

scrupulosity Scrupulosity is the pathological guilt and anxiety about moral issues. Although it can affect nonreligious people, it is usually related to religious beliefs. It is personally distressing, dysfunctional, and often accompanied by significant impa ...

Zines

The ARCH-HIVE's

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

series, The HIVE ZINE, publishes poetry, prose, and art across various styles. Volume one of the series was published in July 2018 and the series remains ongoing. The goal of the zines is to depict experiences and perspectives within the Church through art that is both engaging and accessible. The zines include the use of the

Deseret alphabet The Deseret alphabet (; Deseret: or ) is a phoneme, phonemic English-language spelling reform developed between 1847 and 1854 by the board of regents of the University of Deseret under the leadership of Brigham Young, the second President of t ...

and digital

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and explore themes including church ecology, horror, and

folk magic Folk religion, traditional religion, or vernacular religion comprises, according to religious studies and folkloristics, various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. ...

. Their eighth zine featured versions of the

First Vision The First Vision (also called the grove experience by members of the Community of Christ) refers to a theophany which Latter Day Saints believe Joseph Smith experienced in the early 1820s, in a wooded area in Manchester (town), New York, Manchest ...

by untrained artists.

Shows

The ARCH-HIVE shows have featured art by

J. Kirk Richards Joel Kirk Richards (born 1976) is an American artist who specializes in Judeo-Christian themes. Richards was raised in Provo, Utah. He studied at Brigham Young University under Bruce Smith, Hagen Haltern, Gary Barton, James Christensen, Wulf Bar ...

, Lisa Delong, Annie Poon, and

Matt Page Matt Page is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Alec Snow. The character made his first screen appearance on 21 October 2013. Snow won the role after auditioning in early 2013. Originally contracte ...

, among others. The collective's first show was in March 2019; entitled "Holy Hell," the show explored the intersection of the sacred and the profane. Their second show, "Via Crucis," took place in March 2020 and was themed around the traditional

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. "Midwinter at the Gates of Dawn" appeared in December 2021. In a review of the show at ''15 Bytes'', Jesslyn Low said that the works were strong and beautiful, and that they were not only relevant to current communities but to a broader human journey as well. In December 2022, their month-long exhibit "I Am Bound Upon a Wheel of Fire: Obsessive Compulsion of the Soul" featured more than 25 artists showcasing works about living with OCD, particularly scrupulosity. Mediums represented at the show included sculpture, paintings, interactive exhibits, digital art, and poetry. The artists and poets featured in the show also contributed to an audio exhibit wherein some of their real

intrusive thoughts An intrusive thought is an unwelcome, involuntary thought, image, or unpleasant idea that may become an obsession, is upsetting or distressing, and can feel difficult to manage or eliminate. When such thoughts are paired with obsessive–compulsi ...

were vocalized and engineered to echo, loop, and layer in an effort to evoke the experience of OCD. According to Harrison Epstein from the '' Daily Herald'', the show seemed to resonate with the community, as its opening saw a "constant stream of guests" with a line extending out of the venue and into the street.

Awards

The ARCH-HIVE won an award in Literature and Art from the

Association for Mormon Letters Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

for their work in 2019. The award citation said that their zine series was confident in their use of self acceptance and determination to revive arts within the Church, and said that the art of many forms was a "reflection of the zeitgeist."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ARCH-HIVE, The Artist cooperatives in the United States Arts organizations based in Utah Cooperatives based in Utah Mormon literature Mormon art