It’s just a little past 10:00pm… Tonight was rather uneventful. I’m out on the East Coast this week for work plugging away at some stubborn software bugs and trying to make some sense of our development methodology in the process. We’re not terribly organized and it’s been a pain trying to figure out where we are.
I picked up a pack of Franziskaner beer — tasty (but a wee bit strong). Let’s hope the rest of this post makes sense.
At church, the Sunday School I’ve been going to for the last few weeks has been on “Christian Art and Creativity”. I’m not a huge fan of the class and I feel that something is missing. In general it seems that so few Christians have any understanding of what art is or what it’s all about. We’ve basically learned that forms (like certain geometrically pleasing shapes and proportions) make “good” art. I personally find this totally hokey. I know want to know, what is art and what makes it good or bad. I was rather annoyed that the lecturer completely wrote off Picasso as being a modern idiot who scribbled down way too many silly “paintings”. Now granted, his style seems odd to me (and just about everyone else I know) but he DOES convey useful and good things through his art (and yes, I believe it is art). Gordon Clark in this article says that the purpose of art is expression and as Christians we should express truth. Art that’s chaotic and purposefully random seems to be in defiance to this. But is Pablo random or without form? No! He has form and in fact uses this form to make some interesting art. Even the “blank canvass” variety of modern art is surely of some value if the artist attaches a meaningful statement that reflects some truth or meaning (in this case the art is both the picture and the description).
Anyway — it’s getting late — better get some sleep.
#1 by Diane Feucht on September 26, 2006 - 9:18 pm
Who teaches that Sunday School class? Talk to me about this subject! It’s something I’m kind of becoming very knowledgable on recently…
Picasso – though I dislike the aesthetics of his artwork – is undoubtedly WAY WAY more than just a bunch of random scribblings.
I am in Modern Art and Architecture History class right now, and knowing these artists shows a lot more than just what meets the eye. Dude, I don’t know how much to write. Call me sometime if you want to have a discussion š – (712) 722 – 6662
#2 by Diane Feucht on September 28, 2006 - 8:58 pm
PS – do you know how to fix the title in my blog so it doesn’t go over the edge?
#3 by Peter on October 27, 2006 - 6:15 am
Props for citing Clark.
On the other hand, the fine arts are not a particularly efficient way to convey truth. The old saw “a picture speaks 1000 words” is not always the case. Maps are great and clearly portray truth, but what are the words that Michaelangelo’s “David” conveys?
By the way … let me know next time you’re in DC … (please)