Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Responding Prophetically
Periods of crisis especially seem to produce artists who channel the anxieties of their time into their work. Given the fact that we, globally, are at the beginning of a great economic crisis, think of some ways as artists you might respond prophetically and imaginatively to the prevailing spirits or fear, greed and protectionism in our culture?
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I think that to respond prophetically people needed to be reminded that life involves other things than just money and material goods. Maybe one way to overcome the isolation of individualism and the compulsive over-consumption of our culture (at least here in North America) would be to remind people of their neighbours, both down the street and across the globe. Perhaps we could present people with very real images and creative actions of humanity and community, about building each other up and supporting each other.
ReplyDeleteJust one suggestion to get the ball rolling? I don't know.. these are tough questions.
a thought that came to my mind comes from the old Testament course being taught right now at Redeemer.
ReplyDeleteIn the OT there are strong themes of memory about who people were in relation to God and the world. The feasts and rituals were used to bring the past forward into the present, to remember how good God was to israel in egypt etc.
i wonder for artists and christians today how we can remember, re-imagine, who we are, who God is, through art. To recapture the emotion and passion of how God works in our lives even in the middle of an economic hardtime.
One of the biggest problems Israel faced was forgetting. that problem certainly resonates with myself as well.
This comment about memory reminds of a quote by Brunel (the same guy that directed Un Chien Andalou with Salvador Dali):
ReplyDelete“You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really an intelligence. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing.”
It is interesting to consider remembrance as a subversive act -- particularly in a postmodern culture of perpetual amnesia where we live in the constant "now" without direction, orientation or story to make sense of where we are going.
Today as I was walking to my religion class I saw a group of people, each with ashes crudely formed into a cross on each of their foreheads. This tradition that marks the beginning of lent is a time for reflection. With the covering of ash over the skin we are participating in acknowledging the death and the resurrection of Jesus. We confer for ourselves an identity, formed by culture, tradition, and perhaps parents. Ash Wednesday pulls people together to admit to the harsh reality that we are sinful human beings, and yet that we are forgiven – thus churches are uniting humans all around the globe. Painting the body with ashes is a good way to remember that we are forgiven through Christ's death on the cross. "Dust thou art, and to dust thou wilt return"... I just love this verse because it reminds me that God has a set order for all in the universe, reminding me during these hard times, he's still in control.
ReplyDeleteWe should not take art for granted; it is a universal language that we can use to our advantage. Right now, in agreement with Denise, we should use it to pass on a message of hope and community. Just as Jesus used his time of change and being connected by one language to get his messages across we need to use the universal connections we have today (i.e. art and technology) to help out our brothers and sisters. We are in a perfect time to let massive amounts of people out there know our Christian views in regards to how to deal with the anxieties of our time.
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ReplyDeleteHere are my two cents to toss in the fountain.
ReplyDeleteIf, as Seerveld suggests, art "calls to our attention in capital, cursive letters, as it were, what usually flits by in reality as fine print," a prophetic artistic response to the anxious realities of today must first look for this fine print. I believe "spirits or fear, greed and protectionism," make up much of this fine print. However, there is also neighbourly fine print that artists need to come alongside emphatically, as a kind of prophetic solidarity. The global realities of human suffering immediately comes to mind, expressed in many ways: rootlessness/homelessness, environmental barrenness, exploitation, loneliness and disconnection. Artists seeking to trade in their talents in Christ's restoring name, might do well to see their suffering neighbour more in need of prophetic hope than our corporate neighbours are in need of prophetic judgment.
Instead of only artistically wagging a finger, as so much recent art already excellently and rightly does, we as Christian artists ought to also stoop down with an outstretched and open hand. Sometimes these two gestures can even be simultaneous.
I feel that in order to respond prophetically, I need to have a better understanding of what’s going on in the world. I think an important way of achieving this is to immerse myself in community (as a few others have referred to)—to know my neighbours and hear their stories; to understand their suffering and to suffer with them. How can we express pain and suffering through art if we don’t know it first?
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think we also have to make works that offer a glimpse of hope as well—we need to help people imagine something different (as Prof. Cuthill mentions in his paper, possibly paraphrasing Wright). In order to imagine something different, we may need to immerse ourselves in scripture and seriously practise loving God with all of our hearts, souls and minds, and loving our neighbours as ourselves—this will hopefully provide a glimpse of unselfishness in a world that’s consumed with individualism...
I think that, as artists, we need to first educate ourselves in terms of the events and crises around the world. We have to interact with our surroundings in order to discover new things. It is often easy to retreat to our little “bubble” where everything seems okay and the world just seems to pass us by. I know personally, I can fall into the hum-drum of everyday life and forget about what is really out there and that there is more important things going on than the readings I have to do for the next day. It is important for us to realize that we are part of something much bigger, we are part of world that God has created; a world that is making history as we speak. We as Christian artists must turn towards this time of crisis and respond in a way that exposes the realities of life despite how fearful they may be. We must be truthful and not candy coat anything even if that means offending some people. We should reflect on the word of God so that he can reveal to us what he intends. Our human minds are incapable of grasping the plans that God has; we need God to help make sense of our world (similar to what Prof. Cuthill mentioned). We as artists and followers of Christ must maintain the hope that our current world, despite its time of crisis, is only temporary.
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts that came to mind...hope they make sense.
I agree with what you all have said... however.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard not to be overwhelmed by all the insanity that happens on a daily basis. How do we reach out to the family that has a five year old who just shot and killed a classmate? Grace, compassion, understanding and sympathy all come to mind but how do we effectively communicate who God is so that they may be able to understand on their terms? I know that God uses individual revelation to speak to people's hearts but where does our own Christian faith come into the creation of this representative "reaching out through medium"?
Sometimes, and I know this has been discussed before, Christian art becomes kitschy in its obviousness to reach out to a fallen world. I know that when I develop artwork that is something that I directly try to stay away from. In the Art and the Imagination course I took, we examined the idea "should we label ourselves as Christians who just happen to be artists or do we label ourselves as Christian artists?"
Maybe in our quest to reach out to those around us we should make sure that we know who we are and who God is - constantly struggling with what God wants us to do and being challenged by a community of artists around us.
Kinda like what we are doing right now....
I think that we as university students are at a difficult stage in our lives for responding prophetically to our surroundings. I'm reflecting on something that Dr. Seerveld said at the crossroads conference: university is a time to learn and develop in order that we may become equipped to face our world with wisdom and the appropriate knowledge to make a difference in God's kingdom. This concept is also reflected in Redeemer's Mission statement. I think it's difficult to respond prophetically to our world when we're still learning about it. However, it is almost impossible to shut yourself off from what is going on around you and completely devote yourself to your studies. I think that it is important to find a balance between responding to our world while at the same time developing the skills and gifts that God has given us to do good work. One way that I think this balance can be accomplished is through the methods of teaching (which Redeemer's Art department does very well). I think that art teeachers need to encourage creativity as well as technical skills from an early age in order to help students respond prophetically to what they see in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Angela’s and Evan’s comments, I think that we will always be learning about our world. As long as we make a conscious effort to integrate that new knowledge with our beliefs, I believe that we are still called to respond, even as college students (though as students we should be careful to have an open mind so that we can engage critique honestly and with genuine curiosity).
ReplyDeleteA way to respond prophetically might be to explore God’s eternal truths in new visual ways (i.e. using innovative media or reinventing old symbolism). I liked how Shannon wrote that we should respond in a way that “exposes the realities of life” but still reflects on those truths. Denise and Danielle both mentioned using restorative hope and community as key messages for us as Christians to encourage. We just need to use these concepts within a modern context so that people will relate to it (like calling attention to the “fine print” that Steve pointed out).
If, instead, we decided to stick to traditionally kitsch subject matter (in the warm fuzzy sense of Precious Moments statues), many people would refuse to engage Christian art on sheer principle alone. I would too. We're Christians. Ours is a radical belief and we don't have to play it safe. I also think that prophetic art doesn’t need to be beautiful per se … but it should have a certain riveting quality that will make the viewer come back to it and wonder.
March 12, 2009 2:55 PM