The Story of Salvation Mountain
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Near Slab City, California, a man painted a hill. It was outsider art: Leonard Knight had no training and no great masters to imitate. But somehow, he created something that resonates with the world. This is the story of Salvation Mountain.
Thanks to Ron and to all the team at the mountain; you can find out more about them here: salvationmounta...
The photo of Leonard Knight is by Joe Bielawa, licensed under Creative Commons by 2.0, and available at www.flickr.com...
Edited by Michelle Martin, / @onthecrux
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I figure that there'll be some predictable comments on this video, so I've warmed up a few threads below to help keep them all together!
Tom Scott well planned, get ready for the commend to. Implode
'Commented 3 days ago'
It says that for each of your comments. Weird.
He probably had the whole vid unlisted for a few days.
BlazeStorm he probably uploaded 3 days ago. And then uploaded today
Tom Scott thank you for sharing your amazing video. God bless you and your family
If you think that Ron looks a bit like me, if I'd been living in the California desert for a year and a half, comment here.
The red shirt helps.
Tom Scott Me
Yep
These threads are great
I thought he was you for a few seconds
jk
If you've seen a version of this place in Grand Theft Auto 5, comment here.
Tom Scott yep
yup
Yup
haha just about to make a comment about gta
Yep! And only ever had seen it in GTA V.
"TV is awesome too though. I'm not knocking TV"
What a wonderful human being
Juan Rico I think he sort of realized in the moment that, hey, he was being recorded for a TV sort of thing, and so a lot of people watching him would have a strong opinion, and he wasn't interested in getting into an argument with them (even if he may never interact with the viewers). Which is just the right kind of easy-going.
Is it easy-going, or pure genius? If it was me, I'd only think about that the day afterwards, spend the next few kicking myself. Actually I'm think of going there myself soon. Maybe I won't come back 😎
Wow the caretaker seems like a 200% chill dude
Because 90% of the time he is 100% high.
Which means to average it out he's uh... For the remaining 10% of the time, he's 1100% high!
He's exactly the type of dude you'd expect to find taking care of this thing.
I think you’re slightly off. I’d say about 220% off.
He likes that people are getting away from their TVs, but TV is still cool. Yeah, he's got the right idea.
“I don’t wanna knock tv” he’s the most accepting person ever. He literally just said yes to and about everything.
wanna hit homeless people with a shovel
If you'd like to argue religion for some reason, please don't comment. Just... please don't.
Tom Scott what about my freedom of speech?
Freedom of speech relates to government censorship of what you say. It has nothing to do with people abusing you in UA-cam comments. And Tom is not your government nor anybody's so he can do what he likes.
But the Great Prophet Zarquod is a true prophet of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! I'm offended at the mere mention of Christianity, how dare you acknowledge its existence!!
Portsmouth FC what if i told you that tom is my government
Most important comment on this entire video. You should probably pin it if this gets out of your usual fanbase...
The caretaker is an awesome dude
Ya, big thanks for including the interview. It might be worth the trip just to meet Ron. Seems like an awesome guy.
What an interesting guy with a great attitude.
I came here to say the exact same thing. Hell, I'm half tempted to run off and help him preserve the place.
And he has a red shirt on
"I aint knockin TV, TV's pretty cool too."
The guy you interviewed was very well-spoken. I can see why he was chosen to be the caretaker and share Leonard's passion with others.
BCandSL62309 I met Leonard when I was younger, such a genuine dude and great guy who just loved. This was his passion
Those better be cans of the pinkest pink you've donated
My thoughts exactly. XD
Preservation vs restoration: do we only use the materials that the original artist used or do we take advantage or progress? If we add to a piece of art are we effectively destroying it?
+Reckless Rogues Under the artistic philosophy of Wabi-sabi preserving this site could be considered destroying it. Entropy is king, why fight it?
Dylan Greene because thats what life does... fight entropy
@@recklessroges I'd consider it to be a form of "living" art perhaps
I'm an atheist and even I think this is really cool. I think that's what's so great about it: the creator obviously made it from his love of Jesus, but anyone of any faith or lack thereof can still appreciate the art, dedication, and message of it. It's great.
I hope Tom makes a video on the near by Slab City, which is another place of beauty/interest in its own right. The whole area is really amazing, although this salvation mountain is certainly the most notable.
Agnostic here, and I totally agree.
the art is cool. however I see some serious hints of mental illness that makes it rather dark than cool
I was thinking the same thing. The total universal acceptance is such a noble and respectable thing that you can’t help but feel good hearing them talk about it in this video.
Think of it this way, instead of condemning any of his children to eternal separation he chose to take that guilt on himself taking the consequences of our disobedience himself.
I like that for a religious piece of art that the preserver is just cool with everybody; whatever they come for and whoever they are. More people should think like him, would save a lot of trouble in this world...
Life is a bit more complicated than that..
Eddie S
That's probably true in many cases, but does it really have to be?
@Eddie It most definitely is; but we also make it so complicated. Some things; such as rasicm; aren't that complicated when you break it down. Human psychology is to; that is true :-)
Most really religious people are actually like that. The people giving religion in general a bad rap are the loud minority.
"More people should think like him, would save a lot of trouble in this world..."
Rolling over for Christianity, historically speaking, is a greater guarantee of genocide than anything else. For example: this art was only able to be created on this hill because the locals were slaughtered in the California Genocides.
Leaving out the context of constant genocide in this 'live and let live' mentality is pretty despicable. Whenever we let Christianity go unchallenged, whole peoples get exterminated. It's utterly evil to pretend that being cool with everybody is a good idea, because most people and most ideas are somewhere between volatile and entirely evil.
The colours look like something out of Yellow Submarine
And the supporting framework is straight out of Dr Seuss
*color
Nizte Nitze you can spell color as colour. So he isn’t wrong
Nizte Nitze your probably telling a Commonwealth citizen on an English UA-cam channel that the English way to write colour, a word in the English langue, is wrong.
True love comes from a yellow submarine.
this guy is chill.
i like him
42
Cool
Why do u have such a long name
hitchhikers guide?
@@1.4142 42
A classy gesture, Tom. Whether we believe in a God, or not, this is a monument to human persistence.
its a pile of painted cement afterall.. ^^
Don't cut yourself on that edge there Jimbo.
everything is only a "just", after all.
the memories of a lifetime are just a drop in the ocean of information. every dream, hope and desire, is just a flicker in the fire. and time is that fire, which consumes all. leaving anything more than just a memory behind, is a thing few accomplish. this work will live on, and every appreciation and effort to preserve it, is love given to it's creator, every smile is him returning it. * sniff *
peace!
... and a supreme waste of time and money. Donate your time to the sick and your money to the poor. THAT would be a greater achievement.
Veritable Quandary Then go do that instead of wasting your time on UA-cam comments. That thing is still better use of time than whatever you're doing here.
Great video Tom!
Astronaut! Wow! Thank you for your service to science and humanity!
It seems like a rare earth video subject
"TV is awesome too though I'm not Knocking TV" We all need to be a bit more like this
I had no idea it was actually him in the movie "Into the Wild"
That's awesome!
Charlie Clumsy I knew I saw this in a film rather than a music video. Just couldn't remember which one. You just saved me going mad for a few hours trying to remember.
Yeah, I was fairly sure that it was in Into the Wild but wasn't 100% sure. Thanks for the confirmation!
I love the caretaker. Seems like a really laid back guy, would be a pleasure to spend a day hanging out doing some painting with him!
jmckendry84 Agree! I adore people who puts love and respect before anything else.
This hits really weirdly halfway through 2020. There is hope in the world. That's something you might not have known.
The impressive part of this art project is its sheer magnitude in scale and its collaborative nature. It's like a pre-Internet r/place.
TheOfficialCzex But originally made by one person!
...Except for the fact that it was mostly constructed by one person.
TheOfficialCzex Well, they don't have electricity or running water out there so I wouldn't bet on a quality internet connection.
I have 8-9 pixels left in the canvas
There is a tool for checking that but i dont remerber the name
@Ulti Did you? A volunteer group has been maintaining the site since 2011.
Gotta love the fact that dude literally just looked at it and thought "Imma make a Jesus mountain!"
LSD
I can only imagine Leonard was so lost in his life, then he found God and he must of believed it so much he spent 28 years building it, that's dedication
I believe LSD had a lot to do with it also. Acid was the thing in California and this really looks like it was made from somebody who took a lot of acid.
Nice episode. A bit different feel to your normal stuff, it felt chill.
I don't really believe in religion personally but there is still a beautiful message in this, no need to hate on people, just help and love eachother by preserving a beautiful piece of meaningful art :)
This is what knowing God and Jesus Christ is about. Not vain tradition or repetition, not ceremony, not authority or hierarchy. It's about personally experiencing the Living God in your own way. God bless Leonard Knight. He is with the God of Love now.
Too bad religious authorities wouldn't exactly line up to agree with you.
MrSamulai "authorities"
they are people claiming to represent God, but that doesnt mean they actually do
GoulartGH
That sounds like a 'no true representative fallacy to me
DrunkenAussie how's that a 'fallacy'?
King Ar-Pharazôn how do you know he is with god now?
With Tom usually being so concrete and direct, which is what we like him for, it's nice to see him so heartfelt once in a while.
"The moment I knew about it, I wanted to come here and see it for myself."
That pretty much sums up my love for the Mountain and for your channel, Tom :)
I loved the quiet enthusiasm you showed in this video. You're usually so excited and energetic, and the enthusiastic solemnity you showed here was just underscored by the comparison.
"TV is awesome too though, so I'm not knocking TV"
Classic
I'm a couple years late, but I got engaged at Salvation Mountain. Such a special place, very trippy.
Outsider art is like the b-movie of art, someone scrounged to make their vision a reality. The heart behind it trumps the finished product. I love this stuff!!
Glad you did a video on this. After your Cali singing road, I was hoping you would do more videos within the California deserts and their oddities like the Salvation Mtn.! Good timing Tom!
Regardless of whether people find it beautiful or even pretty, it's refreshing to find religious fervour channelled into an open ended, inclusive expression of 'love' rather than division, exclusion and hate.
This is what my religion is supposed to be, a shining example of it actually. The hate and division you often see is from unsatisfied 'christians' who don't know anything about being Christian, so they satisfy the void by dictating people and policing them so they can feel better about themselves. These were things Jesus openly opposed and was the whole reason why Christianity came to be
The last few seconds got me in the feels. Love is Love, and we are all either on a pilgrimage to find Love, or fervently trying to convince ourselves Love doesn't exist.
I love how Ron constantly mentions that it's not necessarily for religious people or whatever
It's for people
All people
charlie we found candy mountain
Matty sirotkin ... holy nostalgia Batman! Nice one!
Matty sim oh GOD MY KIDNEYS
It’s a leopluridon, Charlie! A MAGICAL leopluridon!
This caretaker guy seems super-cool! Kudos to him, to the artist and to the people who maintain and respectfully visit there ❤️
Also I loved your final comments Tom: "It's difficult to be cynical here"
The caretakers voice sounds exactly like Dennis Leary !
Tom Scott, you have one of the most pleasing voices to listen to.
That's all. Carry on.
Leonard knight is my grandpa's brother. He's my great uncle!😁 My mom still tells me stories about him. My brother got to climb on the waterfall when he went to see him a long while back.
Dude is so chill, I wanna meet him.
He has the most pleasant voice..
Guy being interviewed seemed like a lovely bloke
This is so lovely! It just feels good, so much positivity. I love the guy who made it originally, I love the care taker, I love you all, peeps who are reading this~
This caretaker gives me stereotypical hippie vibes, but I think that’s absolutely amazing. It fits the place too!
I would like to go there, not just because kesha was there filming praying but, it really does look like a beautiful piece of art.
A testament to human effort, really.
I really enjoyed your comments at the end.
Dude, I love your videos, you make some of the best content on youtube. Keep it up Tom!!
in france there is a place called "le palais idéal du facteur cheval" which means the ideal palace of the mailman cheval (cheval is the name of the person who built it but it means horse). it's a castle that he built all by himself using little rocks put together, he didn't study architecture or anything, he just did it, and it's amazing. i really recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go there
Even as an atheist I find this totally amazing. It just says so much about humanity, how much faith we put in unknowable beings, but also how those beings, real or not, in spite of all the bad, have helped create a hell of a lot of good.
It looks like a coral reef, soo pretty 😊
cat at 1:58
The cat appears twice. You should have watched more closely.
bdf2718 I noticed that.
Did you see the guy in the red shirt?
wil son thank you
Who else spotted the desert?
I cried at the end, it was so pure and kind.
It's videos like these that leaves me to wonder why hasn't Tom Scott received any awards
That guy was the best. "They're getting off of their couches and getting away from the TV. TV is awesome too though, so I'm not knocking TV." absolutely no judgement.
"Try dedicating 28 minutes of something nowadays"
I can count at least 4 games i play with more than 1000 hours invested in them
You're still missing the point
28 minutes of something useful...?
Yeah but are you thinking of others, or helping them?
ur doing great honey
Gaming is useful to many people
This is such a true expression of God’s love, so incredible
Who else loves Jesus as much as I do?! ❤
I do :)
I'm not religious (in fact, I sort of despise Christianity), but this is amazing. Absolutely inspiring. Thanks, Tom.
I came here after he passed its such a gorgeous thing to look at in the middle of no where to find this, and I'm not religious but Leonard was amazing in just the videos I've seen of him, learn that he means God Is Love, and he just wanted people to love and that was a beautiful message he left. Thanks Leonard
I'm glad something like this exists, it's a little sad that I've seen jokes on the internet painting such a cool guy as an idiot though.
The people on the internet making jokes about this guy is just your average atheist
damnLad This is about inclusivity, love, and free expression. I don't think ascribing vitriol to an arbitrary group of people is appropriate here.
@@ladofthedamned7796 No. Atheists aren't bad. God wouldn't want us to hate any group of people- ever.
@@lars1588 some atheists aren't bad but some atheists are bad
@@ladofthedamned7796 I'm an average atheist and I think Ron is cool.
I want to go!
Oh so when somebody draws on a hill its "art" and "inspirational" but when I do it its "graffiti" and told "im not allowed to play mini golf here again"
Quit your crying
@@shmh6002 it was a joke dude
Finally a video that is worth watching on youtube trending!
I was there somewhere around January 2014. I stayed at Slab City for about a week.
Rest in peace Christopher McCandless
I'm not religious at all. Personally, I don't see it, but this is lovely. I'd love to go see this
It's hard for me not to think about Neil Gaiman's American Gods when hearing about this kind of places.
I think that if you’re honest and open in your expression - that if you are happy in expressing yourself without dismissal of others- then it really connects. God or no god, I respect this as an expression of self.
My granddad took me here about two years ago. I was just thinking about this place a few days ago. If you visit, you can go inside the rooms, and climb to the top. You can easily spend an hour there, just exploring and hanging out. (I couldn't properly enjoy it because I needed to go to the bathroom so bad, lmao.)
*End screen*. Me: "Woah I wanna go there!"
This guy is so wholesome I love this, this video makes me feel good. :')
Tom, where is the, "I visited this place when I was 7" thread? That's the one I'm in and I'm dispointed it's not here
i'm not a massively religious guy but this is an impressive work of art and i love that it brings people together
I love this and this will be a great adventure for my daughter and I to do. Thank you so much for this video. I want to see it more than ever.
2:36 that guy is totally praising the sun
Kesha filmed her music video here
Hello Goodbye yeah that's where I've recognised this place from too.
It kind of just looks like a Jesus-infused Teletubbies landscape
Uhh you say it like its a bad or unimpressive thing...?
Yuki Light no that’s how you feel, which says something.
I bet a lot of LSD was taken before the making.
They way your voice was so quiet and calm added to the feel of the place
I can see how someone would think it's ugly but it's beautiful to me. Like a child's crayon drawing, except paint on a mountain: fun and innocent.
Kesha - Praying 💗
Saw this in Jessica's (from Girls' Generation) music video Fly. Didn't realize it was a thing. Cool.
have you brought them the pinkest pink paint? :)
I'm normally quite religiously cynical- but this is a symbol of so much more.
If there was more religion like this, and more love. With less hatred and violence then the world would be such a happier place for all.
So many tourists come here, get to the mountain, and turn back, not realizing the pure hive of humanity right behind it
Hey yo Tom, check out the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, IA.
Tom, you big softy! :)
Whose coming with me?
No one apparently
The caretaker is probably the most down to earth people I’ve ever seen. What a soul❤️
I am not a religious person but I do enjoy religious buildings. You should hear me wax lyrical about various churches and cathedrals.
This place seems like a modern day iteration of a cathedral.
Marvellous!
It's beautiful but also a little sad
AndroidDoctorr because Knight died in 2014 and didn't get to completely see his vision through?
Just like life, then.
AndroidDoctorr I find it inspiring.
Yeah, i'm not sure why i find it a little sad too.
I don't care about religion, god and jesus but this mountain looks crazy :D
One day before Halloween and this is the creepiest thing I've seen all day.
More than a little insane but I can't diss his dedication to his craft. More than anyone I know has dedicated to a project, that's for sure.
I live In cali so ya, gonna head out and see this sometime soon. Why not.
Ron seems like the most stereotypically Californian person I've ever seen.
GOD LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAAAAAAAAA
I wonder what colour of paint did you bring...
If you guys want to learn more about this. Look up slab city. Watch the vice doc on it. They do a much more in depth interview and tour of this place.
you are absolutely right. THANKS FOR MAKING SENSE.