The Artists Role As Connector

Last April’s InterArts Fellowship, entitled “The Artist as Cultivator,” sought to investigate the connections between art and prayer. Without too much explanation we hoped the art--in the form of dance, song, music, and poetry, would lead some to prayerful ruminations. But, we also longed to portray the beauty of prayer.

One of the outcomes of April’s IAF were two separate Reflect nights initiated and facilitated by Nathan Troester at his church in Williamsburg. Nathan commenced the evening with prayer and a short theological presentation, later asking the handful of invited artists to reflect and response through their respective artistic mediums.

Graphic designer, printmaker, and creative director of Live From Bklyn, Dailey Crafton, shares his account from the first Reflect night in Live From Bklyn’s blog. I link the post here, but allow me to excerpt some of the content for this reflection:

as i meditated on the concepts of the transcendance/eminence of God, my thoughts were drawn toward the name that God gives himself, “I AM.” this name speak of self-existence, completely independent upon anything else for survival. transcendence defined (and named). i also thought about the Christian doctrine of God-incarnate in the person of Jesus. about how he had a body, hair: a beard. eminence. from these thoughts i also moved into thinking about the material/immaterial dichotomy. immaterial God, material man. I AM material, as it were. i’mmaterial. and that was the concept.

within the swirls of the piece, you can see the word i’mmaterial. and the line is a continuous, unbreaking line, symbolic of the infinite. i also wanted to capture the idea of humanity, so i used a pattern that to me is evocative of hair, a beard to be more specific.

What Dailey’s description from the Reflect event provides is an example of how artists can integrate prayer and art while also portraying their role in connecting abstract ideas with concrete matter. Yet more is being bridged, we also see the reconciliation of spirit and body, work and faith, product and process. Dailey demonstrates how art belongs in the realm of theology, and theology certainly can shape our art. Witnesses to such interactions come away with a deepened understanding of God, while also refreshed by possibilities. It is firmly set in my mind how artists are called to be bridge builders in our ever increasing disconnected world.

Pray artfully,

--Maria

Thank you, Dailey, for allowing us to reference your blog post. Dailey’s i’mmaterial linocut print is available through his online shop.

When Life Doesn't Stop; Making Time For Your Dreams

“In creating, the only hard thing’s to begin; a grass-blade’s no easier to make than an oak.”

James Russell Lowel

I have lived with an idea for a book for over eight years. Of course the inspiration hit me just as I became pregnant for our first son – right at the dawn of a new age of monumental time consumption. But over the years of considering and thinking about this idea, I realized that never does a spark of inspiration hit just as you are about to go to a divine lake retreat for three weeks of uninterrupted creative time. Never. Last spring, I realized that I had three main obstacles that were looming over me and making me more than procrastinate, they were causing a paralysis: time, task, and comparison.

I have been part of International Arts Movement for over 10 years. IAM is an arts organization not just for artists, but for anyone who has a desire to rehumanize their sphere of influence; to creatively make it more good, true and beautiful. I have always come away from their conferences feeling inspired and motivated to be a better person in every area of my life. But the last two conferences were especially significant to me as they helped put legs to something my heart had desired for many years – to write.

Makoto Fujimura, painter and founder of IAM, says that when he paints, it creates time in his schedule because it feeds his soul. It made me think about time to create in a whole new dimension. I had thought about time linearly: time out equals time gone. There is not enough time to get the things done merely to survive, let alone the seemingly luxurious time to write. But what it – what if– time to create didn’t take away, but added? I had also toyed with the idea of waiting until a more perfect time arrived. I know – it’s laughable. I knew there was no such thing as a perfect time, yet I still deliberated over it.

And who hasn’t thought of writing a book? Millions of us have. It’s on many of our bucket lists: get a book published. Whether that is from a desire of status, accomplishment, or because we have something we must say… I’m not sure. But for me, whatever the motivation, the task itself seemed gargantuan. It was like looking up at the Cliffs of Dover: straight up, impossible to climb, and fearsome to complete.

Then as I looked at the idea of my novel, a 1930′s historical fiction mystery set in New York City, I made a deadly choice: I compared how others write, to how I should write. Most of the mystery authors I love to read create an outline from beginning to end before they begin. So I tried that – and failed miserably. I had characters, I had a general sweep of where I wanted to go… but an outline was a virtual impossibility.

Finally, after a lot of frustration, I found some inspiration. I went to a book signing by one my favorite authors, perhaps one of the most creative people I’ve ever met: Jasper Fforde. He said that he often “just wrote” because he liked to see where his writing would take him. And he frequently used what he termed as “off-ramps.” Events or actions thrown in here and there – completely unrelated to the current storyline – that he may or may not choose to use at some other time in one book or another. I loved that. I loved the idea of letting characters and situations develop as I crafted them, seeing where possibilities could take me. Click to read further.

-L.A. Chandlar

Laurie is a longtime member of IAM, wife, mother of two, and lay ministry leader. And she still finds time to write! Please visit Laurie's website for more of her musings.

The Artist as Theologian

Remember the days when a conversation at Starbuck’s about the deeper matters of life and longing would inevitably end with one party resolutely declaring, “Well, that’s true for you but it’s not true for me”? It seems like only yesterday that relativism reigned as the catch-all response to issues of ultimate concern from philosophy and religion to sociology and even law.

In his recent talk at InterArts Fellowship, Steven Garber sought to orient our community of artists to the times in which we live and encouraged us towards meaningful actions and conversations within our hearts, communities and world. As he does in his book, The Fabric of Faithfulness, Steve reminded us of how the Age of Enlightenment and the rationalism of the modern era have left many in contemporary society with a dulled awareness of human destiny and purpose. Yet, Garber notes, even relativism is coming under strong suspicion amid the devastating scenarios of our war-torn and disaster-prone world, not to mention the accompanying nihilism which offers a bleak and gangly vision of human flourishing.[1] Unfortunately, this dilemma has left many in our society confused, depressed and floundering for a sense of meaningful purpose for their lives. [2]

It seems that in order for the church to navigate this scenario, artists must become engaged in developing our shared understanding of both our times and our God. Cue: the artist as theologian. Clearly, God's world is not black and white. There are grey areas that cannot be packaged or easily reconciled without the use of abstract thinking and imagination.These times may require the presence and participation of artists within the church in order to know God and make him known within a culture that has lost its anchor in rationality and reason yet has grown increasingly suspicious of relativism as an easy fix to the inconsistencies between our knowledge and our experiences. As artists we tend to live in the tension between the what is and the what ought to be as we work. Our gifts and our way of seeing allow us to accept and explore mystery.

What might it look like for your work to become a context in which the mysteries of God are explored and embodied? Have you ever experienced a way of living and working in the arts that integrates and enlivens your engagement with the gospel? Will you as an artist identify with the community and calling of the people of God?

Kenyon

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[1] The Fabric of Faithfulness, Garber. After Virtue, Macintyre. Beyond Objectivism and Relativism, Bernstein.

[2] Generation Me, Twenge.

Our Story

Artists in the Church need to develop a theory of art informed by the bible in order to return to the world a profound story. With society’s loss of the meta-narrative contemporary lives feel detached, humanity’s significance seems to have diminished, we have forgotten what it means to be human. Despite how the power of God’s story has shaped Christian lives for some time now, we choose to depend and trust those who can feed us information, analysis, doctrines. Furthermore, viewing soul salvation as the primary function of Christianity means we have missed the rich dimensions of God’s redemptive plan for the world. We have disconnected God from our everyday lives and experiences. As Christians we need God to break into our lives in real and tangible ways. We need to reconnect with the whole Christian narrative. Perhaps art, which so heavily depends on narratives, is one way we can practice entering into God’s story again.

The whole of the Christian narrative speaks of a triune God, his people, and his plan for the world. God as Father, Son, and Spirit is a unified diversity. Likewise, he is the true unifier amid the great variety he has created. Therefore, our God is equipped and has equipped us to handle the many episodes, sagas, and movements that are part of the Christian epic. We need artists to formulate new stories rooted in the biblical narrative. We need to write, play, and dance in the margins of our beloved texts.

Typically, in our contemporary society, an artist’s identity is tied to what they create, not in God the creator. Our formation as artists, our art, must flow out of what we know and experience of God. If faith transforms our art, think how much more, the Triune God will open the art-making praxis to inform faith further. Gerardus van der Leeuw asserts art will intersect with religion if it “turns to the absolute; where the wholly other is.”(Sacred and Profane Beauty, p.33) Van der Leeuw quoting Jacques Maritain writes “If you want to make Christian art, be Christians, and seek to make a beautiful work, in which your entire heart lies; do not try to make it Christian.”(Sacred and Profane Beauty, p.36) Part of formulating a theology of the arts is redefining what it means to be a Christian—God’s work of art. Let’s begin to retell God’s story through our hands, feet, lips.

Maria

There, But For The Grace of God

there

but for the Grace of God lay I still

paralyzed but not still

devoid of peace bereft of hope

leper

perishing

languishing, lost, in a bed, in, deep in oppressive, depressive despair, slave to myself, blind to all else...

only by His command was I able to rise! And come forth

broken

one foot in front of the

other

unsure

afraid

desperately alone

unloved

unwanted, and therefore

worthless...

worthless.

(or so i thought - little did i know i was)

limping towards Love that saves

away from where my death was certain, imminent, and well underway

now

restored

redeemed

and Eternally Loved i lay me down to sleep

and sleep soundly

in the selfsame bed

finding my rest in

Him who my soul doth keep.

ileana santamaria

Vocalist and musician, Ileana Santamaria, typically performs this poem to the music of the classical Spanish piece, Nana by Manuel de Falla

The Dialogue Continues

A friend of mine tells a story of a woman he loved and lost to a terminal illness. He recalls how he strove to make her last days so full of life. She dreamed of going to Italy, and because it was clear she would never make it there he transformed her hospital bedroom into a living Italian montage complete with a gondola! He painted the walls with scenes from Venice, Rome and Florence...all to make her feel full of life. He went on to recall being by her side as she lay dying. Offering him some of her last words, she passionately whispered, "He is Life!"

Scripture tells that He who has the son, has life (1 John 5:12). If there's one thing we are seeking in New York City it's this sense of really living: to have Life. Artists especially depend on this over- abundant sense of being alive to both suffering and joy.

Last fall we began considering six themes regarding the calling of the artist in view of the gospel. Now, as we start a new ministry year, we invite you to consider one over-arching theme which we will approach this coming Monday at InterArts Fellowship with the help of Steve Garber. The theme is simply Life, capital "L". We intend to explore this theme in four ways:

Abundant LIFE

Body LIFE

Spirit LIFE

Eternal LIFE

Through our programs, events and conversations with you we hope to explore the reality of abundance, the imminence and import of life in the body, the mystery of the spirit and the hope of eternity. Join the dialogue through quarterly gatherings of InterArts Fellowship, in Arts Vocation Groups and on our InterArts Facebook page.

Hope to see you soon. Take care in the city!

Kenyon

Walking With Christ

Reading Roberto Goizueta’s Caminemos Con Cristo (we shall walk with Christ) startled me into realizing how much my own theology of work aimed folks solely towards kingdom transformation in our world. To be sure, this is a good and a worthy project, but Goizueta has reminded me how social transformation is not our end and purpose. In Genesis, God deems humanity good, before he gives out work. Therefore, while God calls us to cultivate, perhaps we should perceive this human activity as aesthetic: the desire for a beautiful life that drives us to do good. Now, I recognize, process and production are not mutually exclusive when we put ourselves into God’s hands. But, I need to be constantly reminded not to measure and value human worth as the world does. So, forgive me, while I counter the pragmatic tendencies of our present realities by promoting process over production. As Goizueta points out, it’s the process, the way we go about our work that makes us distinctly human beings.

While, it's the artist-side of my role as an arts ministry coordinator that encourages artists to create works that are community building, social commentaries, theological meditations, and mimetic observations; its my theological-side that reminds them that their creations do not define them. As my colleague Kenyon constantly quips, "It's your life, taken up in Christ, that determines your worth." While art accomplishes wonderful things, our ability to do, mainly demonstrates we are beings. Ultimately, it’s not so much what we produce, but how we allow our strengths, abilities, foibles, and failures shape the way we live in God’s grace.

The parable in Matthew 20 concerning the hired workers illustrates how God is not as concerned with productivity as we tend to be. Here, he compensates those who worked all day the same as those he commissioned a few hours before pay. In fact, the parable depicts a landowner more preoccupied with giving men work, then his need to pull in crops. This landowner goes out five times to ensure every man within his reach has purpose and meaning for that day. It is God who hires us, therefore, making us desirable.

In a kingdom where the last will be first, our Christian theologies of culture must not solely rely on transforming the world through our work. Goizueta outlines the danger of this one-dimensional agenda: “If the act of production is the prototypical human activity, then all human activity will tend to be judged by the criteria of production…Human life will be viewed and valued as the means or instrument through which we produce a desirable product, whether that product is income and profit, food, or the classless society.”

What? You haven’t written that socially transformative book or shaped lives by calling to attention the horrors of corruption through a photo series? In Mark 18, Jesus calls a child and brings him before his disciples, who were intent on finding out the kingdom hierarchy. Jesus tells his audience, those who are humble like a child, become the greatest in the kingdom.

When introduced to a child, it is not usual to ask the child, or their parents, what they do for a living--a child just lives. Healthy children experience awe and discovery through play. They find joy in newly acquired abilities. Indeed, these actions are precious gifts befit for the kingdom.

Shall we walk with Jesus as we work?

Maria