Letter to Daniel on Art

A friend of mine asked me to read and consider some of his conclusive ideas on the relation between art and poverty some days ago. Putting aside the uselessness of lying in bed in rumination, I decided to write him at around 3 AM one night. Here is the response I wrote, which, in turn, has brought me to the place where I am now: adding to my list of sleepless activities, a personal blog. Daniel's blog is an amalgam of thoughts comprehensively collected in the mind of a man, and expelled on the internet for the reading of one or maybe two people. (a tradition I will thus continue here.) Thanks for the inspiration to write more Daniel.

(Note to the lone reader: Daniel's thoughts on the relation between art and poverty are more conclusive and meditated upon than my own verbose meanderings. His post "Art and Poverty Pt. 2" is worth the read. Jonathan Barker also has some good thoughts on the matter.)

--------

[from danielrleonard.blogspot.com]

Daniel,

I think an important thing to consider when trying to come to conclusions about the importances and implications of art, is the model of the Creator. Being created in the image of the Creator grants us all the ability to create in our own individualized ways, which too often we dismiss because of the tendency to compartmentalize art into specific categories. (ie: I cannot draw or write, and create according to what our culture defines as the only accepted artistic formats, so I will dismiss my ability to create.) This approach is too often accepted, limiting the self-actualizing (or rather Christ-actualizing) potential of those created in the image of God, to revel in a joy granted to us freely, creating being a part of the whole in Christ we are to become, and ever becoming. I am known to politefully and contemptibly dismiss any attempt from anyone to enter into a dialogue seriously with me about the purpose or culturally and spiritually significances of art, simply because it so oftentimes delineates sheer enjoyment of art for me into abstraction and impersonal sub-reality. I think another important thing to raise questions about is the personal ramifications of art, and the creation of art as a means for as you say ”liberation.” Perhaps instead of looking at the cultural and spiritual significances of art as a whole, it is more beneficial to understand the significance art has to its individual creator. As we were created to be in personal communion with each other and God, originally, I think we can again, look to the Creator-God as a source of direction. I understand the human race through and in the lens of the Creator and His creation (the whole scope of what was created!) Without an adequate understanding of the Creator, it is hard for me to make any sort of formidable sense of His creation. I think this ethic bears weight somehow, and may be an adequate model to use in approaching art. Like yourself, I believe art is a questionable topic to approach with any sort of certainty, and I am not sure that is a bad thing. Any all encompassing, preponderance of evidence related to art must be gathered personally and intimately through attempting to understand the mind of its creator.

A good Christ-centered resource which does not diminish art's significance, raising many more questions than it attempts to answer is aptly titled, “Art Needs No Justification,” by a man named H. R Rookmaaker. I have a copy if you'd like to read it.

Continuing the dialogue about art and poverty, I think aesthetics can be a dangerous thing if we are more drawn towards enjoying the aesthetic qualities of a photograph of impoverished peoples, than willing in our hearts (and wishing to act) for their relief. This very thing is terrifying evidence of the seemingly insurmountable disconnections between our lives here in the West, and those “others,” whose photographs may be used to pull together colors in a room, rather than evoke Christ's want for restoration and justice in our world. This is why I am upset that one of my favorite photographers has a book being printed with all of his photographs from several trips to Africa. There is something evidently discordant about the ability to purchase a book for twenty dollars, which attempts to expose the bitter, should-be intimacies of real, struggling [a word we cannot even feign to resonate with] people. Unfortunately, the possession of such a thing so oftentimes will in our minds become travestied beauty, becoming, cheap, fleeting pornography, robbing these beautiful people of dignity and personality. This is where theory intersects reality. This is why it is at times for me painful and hurtful to watch others look at photographs I have on a wall in a gallery solely for personal enjoyment. It's contemptible and shameful, and I'd like to tell them to stop objectifying human beings. But I must admit that I am being a pious prig, and look for the whisper of Christ in it all.