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Religion and art

Religion and art

Postby nomad » May 28th, 2007, 4:49 pm

I was thinking about the contrast between my artistic endeavors and academic pursuits, and came up with the following:

<<When you present art, the point is to share. You can play music or paint or write for its own sake or for your own enjoyment. But if you put it before others, it is an invitation to them to join you and participate. The audience is invited to be part of the process. Good art can carry a message, but it cannot lecture. It must always be generous, always vulnerable. It is essentially an offering. If artists have a reputation for being sensitive, it is probably because every artist knows what it feels like to be Cain.>>


Seems like every once in a while someone starts a thread asking why Christian film/contemporary music isn't very good. That is, of course, a broad generalization and one can easily find exemptions. And a fair amount of secular film and music isn't all that great either. But I'm wondering, if what I've said above has any validity, is there an inherent tension between artistic creation and an attempt to "tell" people the truth, whether that truth is religious or political? That would explain why I've also seen so much bad politically-driven art.
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Re: Religion and art

Postby A#minor » May 28th, 2007, 5:53 pm

"My brain and this world don't fit each other, and there's an end of it!" - G.K. Chesterton
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Re: Religion and art

Postby Karen » May 28th, 2007, 6:33 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Re: Religion and art

Postby nomad » May 28th, 2007, 6:38 pm

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Re: Religion and art

Postby Guest » May 29th, 2007, 6:41 pm

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Postby Leslie » May 30th, 2007, 12:08 am

I wonder how much of the Puritan mistrust of art and imagery lingers in Protestant thinking today. It seems to me there may be a sense at some level in some circles that art is acceptable in a Christian context only if it is overtly didactic. And when art is created to serve a purpose, whether educational or political or what have you, it ceases to be art, and becomes a parody of itself.

I think true art is an attempt to present a glimpse of truth. The artist can only invite others to share the glimpse, which may be dim or distorted because of our human failings and limitations. But the dimness can be part of the magic, too. Oftentimes a shadowy glimpse is more enchanting than a full-on, brightly lit view.

The artist cannot say "This is the truth." The artist can only say "This is what I saw (or heard, or felt). Do you see (hear, feel) it too?" Truth may speak through art, but it is not the artist that does the telling -- the art speaks for itself.
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"At myself. My little puny self," said Phillipa.
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Re: Religion and art

Postby nomad » May 30th, 2007, 1:49 am

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby nomad » May 30th, 2007, 1:50 am

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby chad » May 30th, 2007, 7:58 am

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Postby nomad » May 30th, 2007, 8:31 pm

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby AllanS » May 30th, 2007, 11:32 pm

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

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Postby Karen » May 30th, 2007, 11:49 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby AllanS » May 30th, 2007, 11:51 pm

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

Quid and Harmony: a fund-raising project for the Fistula Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. www.smithysbook.com
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Postby nomad » June 5th, 2007, 2:44 pm

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby JRosemary » July 16th, 2007, 1:28 pm

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