For centuries art and spirituality have been intertwined throughout history. Through art people have been able to provide a visual outlook on the abstract theories of the afterlife, death, the nature of the universe, and moral law. Different Religions have provided an array of diversity within art. For instence some religions portray beliefs directly like through images from the Bible, others on the other hand have very mystic and whimsical approaches. In more recent time spirituality has taken a path towrd more nonconventional ideas some that would be marked as offensive. It has taken “art about spiritual beliefs to be hip and avant-gard”. There are a few Startagies that that visual artists take when dealing with specific themes. These help mold the minds of the viewers. The manipulation of forms, material, and process play a very large role in completeing the peice. For example ancient practices of iconic art involve a spiritual renewal and sacrafice. Materials can range from everything to prcious jewels to dung. Each material symbolizes something different to each culture. Artists also have taken means into minipulating meanings and the mind. Each peice of art is trying to find  link between the spirtual world and the natural world. There have been a wide range of ways to address death, doom, and destruction. Art has been prevelant in expressing the dark side of sin and death. In contemporay art there has been alot of works relating to nuclear warfare, AIDS epidemic, terrorism, wars, and ecological issues. Fro instense paintings called Atmosphere, American Rosss Bleckner reflects death through skeletons, candleabras, and urns full of flowers. Contemporary art has also become more attuned to mixing the sacred and the secular. At time the art can be shown as a way to point out the flaws of a specific practice by representing it through pop art such as Elayne Goodman’s work Altar of Elvis.