Adam Taye
Brooklyn, New York
Dime Jersey
Chain-mail basketball jersey made of dimes and sycamore
branch. Branch gesture mimics
Masonic distress signal. Dimes are all facing downward so
"Liberty" text on coin is visible.
"7" is made of pennies from 1977, "8" is
made of pennies from 1978.
The dimes represent a "tithe" or tenth of one's income that Biblically one was expected to give to the church. Mormons who pay a full tithe are able to wear sacred
undergarments that, among other things, are supposed to protect the wearer from
harm. The pennies in the 7 are from the era when black males were not allowed
to hold the priesthood in the Mormon Church. This rule changed in 1978 thus the
use of pennies from 1978.
This artifact draws from two different scriptural references in the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith allegedly found an ancient breastplate belonging to the prophet Mormon buried with the golden plates that were the original Book of Mormon. On either side of this breastplate were two translucent rocks he called the Urim and Thummim. He said the rocks were "seer stones" that he would hold in front of his eyes to translate the text on the golden plates from New Egyptian to English. The numbers on the chainmail jersey are placed where the stones would have been found. Additionally, in the text of the Book of Mormon there is a passage describing a great General named Moroni (who is also the angel blowing his horn atop Mormon temples) who leads a grassroots effort to defend freedom by tearing his coat, writing a message of freedom on it, and raising it as a flag he calls "The Title of Liberty." On the back of the jersey there is text made from pennies reads "Pa Le Ale" which, according to Brigham Young, means "Lord, Hear my voice" in Adamic, God's original language.
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