Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, until a Russian art collective was prevented from projecting the Eye of Sauron atop a tower in downtown Moscow. In conjunction with the latest installment in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit series, art group Svechenie planned for the Great Eye to o'ertake Moscow's financial district for nine hours tonight, according to the Hollywood Reporter Russia. Leaders in the Russian Orthodox Church complained, and now it looks like Putin's Russia has been spared the unblinking gaze of another dark lord.
CityLab's Kriston Capps elaborates:
The plan was scrapped almost as soon as it was formally announced. It was not Gandalf the White who stopped Sauron this time, but another controversial robed figure: Russian Orthodox Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who called the symbol "demonic." In an interview with Govorit Moskva radio station, Chaplin said "such a symbol of triumphant evil rising above Moscow and becoming one of the tallest objects in the city…is it good or bad? I am afraid it's mostly bad."
Mostly bad? The lidless fire-eye of Sauron, high lieutenant of Morgoth? One reading of all this is that the forces of light prevailed in the East. Another is that Moscow's most vertical hostel was robbed of its evening entertainment.
· Moscow Will Not Build an Eye of Sauron Downtown After All [CityLab]