tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2612081433860035062024-02-22T13:26:37.878-08:00Interface ArtsCraig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-70880769312699781452013-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:002013-08-09T07:00:31.341-07:00Structure vs Expression<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqVx7M5W20UyCyso9EngVU-d60CeihJxu_c_2gv_lxXms81uo1wcdvmqE_whm0WfNf9fGGXhMAn-bKW-dsAIWhX8ZgOheBoSRGnaflrZNCJ7OZ7K9LlLU85OdOhg64PIJ7zhdCMcH5fg/s1600/pollock.number-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqVx7M5W20UyCyso9EngVU-d60CeihJxu_c_2gv_lxXms81uo1wcdvmqE_whm0WfNf9fGGXhMAn-bKW-dsAIWhX8ZgOheBoSRGnaflrZNCJ7OZ7K9LlLU85OdOhg64PIJ7zhdCMcH5fg/s320/pollock.number-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td class="tr-caption">Jackson Pollock, <i>Number 8 (detail)</i>, 1944 </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Is it more important to make art in a structured manner or
an expressive manner? Does organising,
planning and measuring not wrench the life out of our creativity? Does a grid sheet not reduce our ideas to a
monotonous format? But conversely does
random, thoughtless, ‘instinctive’ creativity really work? Is freedom of expression really freedom
without some kind of framework to restrict it from bursting into nonsense? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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From the very beginning, the bible esteems both structure and
expression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of the seven days of
creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each act of creation is penned
into a day and yet within the fenced off areas we find abundant expression of
colour, form and substance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each day God
gives the same examination of what he’s made, at the same time and in the same
manner, and yet each day is remarkably different with new landscapes being
formed and dreamt up animals parading the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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As we go through the bible we continue to see structure and
expression held in perfect harmony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
amazing example of this is the book of Lamentations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you read is beautiful expressive poetic
language contained within an equally beautiful structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are five poems (chapters) in the book;
the first two and the last two contain 22 verses with three lines each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each verse in these four poems begins with a
successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the third poem, which is at the centre of the book, there are 66
verses of one line each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this chapter,
three verses are assigned to each successive letter of the alphabet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is just the beginning of an explanation
of the structure and already I’m sure I’ve lost you!</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the New Testament in a book like John’s Gospel we see the
same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a series of profound stories
put together in a thought-through structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this case it is a simple structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are seven ‘signs’ (or miracles) and seven ‘I am’ statements which
repeat Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In and around these main elements there are beautiful stories with
layers of meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When these are read
in the context of the rest of scripture and the contemporary culture they leave
you completely in awe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again there
is strong structure and real, heart-moving expression.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what do we make of all this and how do we apply it to the
art that we make?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well it seems that
throughout scripture, which is God inspired art, we see a remarkable
partnership between expression and structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God doesn’t recognise a dichotomy between the two and neither should
we.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Christians we should embrace
these elements in our art and in everything we do.</div>
Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-68194588312349790292013-05-06T09:11:00.000-07:002013-05-06T09:11:06.930-07:00What Does The Bible Say About Music?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h4 class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v3ku29sWOoP-T2EfGp46cwJiOz_nOVWHVB8aaoqM3HBezuq8A6mFByfmYScvuy9wmwiLCEiCwu6vIcihhjSNbsJDIu34tvmz5AFXFPDbK53B4q7ZnJOpnVRWE-IaUBCn3KVTk0W2uLk/s1600/SS853661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v3ku29sWOoP-T2EfGp46cwJiOz_nOVWHVB8aaoqM3HBezuq8A6mFByfmYScvuy9wmwiLCEiCwu6vIcihhjSNbsJDIu34tvmz5AFXFPDbK53B4q7ZnJOpnVRWE-IaUBCn3KVTk0W2uLk/s320/SS853661.JPG" width="212" /></a>Below are a couple of very brief thoughts from two William Edgar
lectures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Follow the link for the
lectures in full…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/index.php?/resources/name-index/a/William_Edgar/topic/Art" target="_blank">What Does The Bible Say About Music?</a></span></h4>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Where is Music in the bible?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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When you think of music in a Christian context you probably
think of worship music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we find
when we look at the bible however is something quite different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, music is used in worship again and again
but it’s also used in all these different situations: </div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Work songs</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Num 21:17, Is 16:10, Is 27:2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">War</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
Num 21:27, Psalm 68, 2 Ch 20:21, Ex 15:20</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Instruction, prophecy, mutual edification</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> 1Kings 4:32, 2 Kings 3:15, Col 3:16</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Love songs and seduction</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Psalm 45, Song of Sol 2:12, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ezek 33:32, Gen31:27, Jer 25:10</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Entertainment</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Job 21:12, Is 24:9, Dan 6:18, Luke 15:25</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">With dance</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Ex 15:20, Psalm 68:25, Mat 11:17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Derision</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Job 30:9, Lam 3:14</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Elephant; mso-bidi-font-family: Elephant; mso-fareast-font-family: Elephant;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mourning</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> 2 Sam 1:18-27, 1 Kings 13:30, Mat 11:17</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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These verses are just a drop in the ocean of where music is
talked about in scripture and affirmed as being a good part of humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the greatest affirmation of the
goodness of music is seen in the life of David who God calls, “a man after his
own heart” (1Sam 13:14).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know
that David wrote many of the Psalms that we still sing in the church today but
did you know David played the lyre every day with no mention of a singing
accompaniment (1Sam:18:10)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God didn’t
see it as a waste of time for David to make music even though he had a host of
other, what some would see as more useful, gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact it was David<span class="text1sam-16-18">’s gift of making music that really made him stand out in
the world (1 Sam 16:17-18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if you
are a Christian and you are good at music, keep it up.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>What Does Music Do?</b></div>
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There is a word of warning for when we engage in music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to have the effect of heightening
human emotion and moving our affections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This can be good and it can be bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The great theologian Jonathon Edwards comments about worship,</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>‘[T]he duty of singing praises to God, seems to be appointed
wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be
assigned, why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in
prose, and do it with music, but only, that such is our nature and frame, that
these things have a tendency to move our affections.’</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Music can lead us in good directions and help us enjoy God
and his creation but it can just as easily lead us in bad directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another great theologian, Augustine, took the
emotional effect of music very seriously,</div>
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<br /></div>
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<em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'Yet when it happens
to me that the music moves me more than the subject of the song, I confess
myself to commit a sin deserving of punishment, and then I would prefer not to
have heard the singer.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confessions,
X, xxxiii</em></div>
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<br /></div>
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You might not agree with Augustine but the point is we have
to be careful about what we listen to and when we listen to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music does affect our emotions and our
emotions affect what we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a rich
gift from God but like all his gifts their ultimate purpose is to help us
delight in him.</div>
Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-73667393573886816582013-04-30T03:46:00.001-07:002013-04-30T03:46:33.776-07:00Artist in Residence: Could it be you?<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" scrolling="auto" src="http://content.bitsontherun.com/players/RXg7LCpH-W5mSopb3.html" width="480"></iframe><br />
Just a few more days to get your application and proposal in for Forum's Artist in Residence. This is a fantastic opportunity to create a dynamic piece of work that helps over 1000 students to engage with the creative arts, and practising artists. Could it be you?<br />
<br />
Deadline for applications is Friday 3rd May.<br />
<br />
Check out <a href="http://www.uccf.org.uk/forum/artist-residency.htm" target="_blank">the application</a>, have brainstorm today and get applying! <br />
<br />
<br />
Ps Last year's artist, Pete Glasgow, wrote a blog post on here reflecting on his experience - check it out.Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-14227695544777606622013-03-13T04:31:00.002-07:002013-03-13T04:42:52.827-07:00Christian Involvement in (dramatic) art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/jaywalking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/jaywalking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Giles Fouhy, a minister from East London wonderfully helped London Interfacers to think Christianly about the arts this week. I'll do my best to summarise! As an actor he'd written his paper specifically for the dramatic arts, but much of what he said is very useful for thinking about the arts in general.<br />
<br />
He began introducing 3 really helpful questions that Christians are faced with as they engage with the arts - questions we found we'd all struggled with, or thought about:<br />
<br />
1) <b>Morality</b>: Is not the immoral content of drama/art spiritually damaging to audiences and practitioners? i.e. the very act of becoming different characters, depicting sin can be dangerous.<br />
2) <b>Reality</b>: Drama is imaginary and therefore unreal and untrue - isn't it just an escapist lie?<br />
3) <b>Utility</b>: What use is drama/the arts? Is it not just frivolous time wasting?<br />
<br />
So where do we go with these questions? Well we always go back to the Bible. Giles helped us to explore a biblical worldview for the reformation of <i>all</i> of life, which has largely stemmed from 19th century thought (Neo-Calvinist 'reformational' thought to be precise!). He helped us to see<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">the scope of Creation</span> (how vast and wide and good it is, how wonderfully sustained it is by God's word, and by us as we carry out our role in society)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">the scope of The Fall</span> (that all of creation is subjected to bondage to decay, creation is frustrated, and ravaged by sin. However, sin hasn't obliterated everything. There is common grace that restrains God's righteous anger)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">the scope of Redemption</span> (the cosmic scope of Christ's work on the cross, and his resurrection must not be underestimated. Christ is restoring the whole of creation to himself as the head of the Church.)</blockquote>
This worldview leaves us with an <b>antithesis</b> now: we live in a world that is steeped in sin and held in 'bondage' to Satan, and a world into which the Kingdom of God has come in Christ, so that everywhere there lies <i>the potential for redemption</i>.<br />
<br />
So how does this affect our questions/objections raised at the beginning?<br />
<br />
Well firstly Giles encouraged us to see that along with all creation, the arts are able to be redeemed. But we need to consume with care. As Seerveld writes,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">"Unless you are protected by the holiness of a biblical innocence and by genuinely wise, critical antennae, then performing or composing or receiving art in the secular city is as dangerous as jaywalking."</span></blockquote>
The simple framework with which we can approach these questions was outlined as follows:<br />
<br />
We look for the <b>structure</b>: 'structure denotes the essence of a creaturely thing, the kind of creature it is by virtue of God's creational law' - we approach involvement in the arts, a creation of God, with positive optimism, searching for that which is creational - which we can affirm and encourage.<br />
<br />
We also look for the <b>direction</b>: 'direction refers to a sinful deviation from the structure, or a renewed conformity to it in Christ.'<br />
<br />
So as we approach the question of <b>Morality</b> - we need to make a distinction between the content of a play/piece of work, and the overall message/story that is portrayed. So often we can be wary because of the amount of language/nudity, rather than thinking discerningly about the worldview/direction that is portrayed. Does the story conform to true redemptive pattern of love and self-sacrifce? What is the direction of the piece?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">'If our commission to be truthful demands that we portray sin, our commission to be holy demands that we don't glory in it'</span></blockquote>
With <b>Reality</b>, a helpful argument from Ryken was put forward, that the artistic imagination, correctly perceived, far from escaping reality, takes us <i>into</i> reality. It's a window. Good art illuminates reality, while bad art escapes from reality. It's the 'lie that tells the truth'. As we delve into the Word of God, we see the extent to which the Bible appeals to truth through imaginative story telling and images.<br />
<br />
As for <b>Utility</b>, there is a big temptation to divide the secular and sacred, and feel guilty for not spending all our time evangelising etc. Giles encouraged us to see the real and only divide is the <b>antithesis </b>discussed earlier - and so our discipleship needs to embrace seeing this in all walks of life, from the prayer meeting to the studio. A discipleship that breaks out of 'the church' and embraces and affirms the whole of life provides the true context for evangelism.<br />
<br />
As I reflect on what Giles shared with us, it's immensely exciting to be thinking Christianly about the arts - to be grappling with how the gospel truly shapes the work we produce. Praise God that He is so wonderfully involved with his creation, that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Let's keep looking to Christ as we engage with the arts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-24794030911320262952013-03-11T07:22:00.000-07:002013-03-11T07:22:34.097-07:00Critiquing Damien Hirst<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFEoDnZOBM4f3xfnH2JTduKz47_QS73XIhaRSfmOAkfx3qhyiKkcur07vUBBWzFAodrWAkJ8BTFctTFrAur5jypEdVWYF4dYHZjJKLMBgSaOhCkGTY5OmyNkliO0SWIEOlRba8gX2Zkc/s1600/Hirst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFEoDnZOBM4f3xfnH2JTduKz47_QS73XIhaRSfmOAkfx3qhyiKkcur07vUBBWzFAodrWAkJ8BTFctTFrAur5jypEdVWYF4dYHZjJKLMBgSaOhCkGTY5OmyNkliO0SWIEOlRba8gX2Zkc/s320/Hirst.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What should we make of Damien Hirst? Is his work really art? Is it any good? Follow this link for an excellent critique of Damien Hirst by Nigel Halliday </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.labri-ideas-library.org/download.asp?fileID=990" target="_blank">Of Course It's Art - exploring, defending and critiquing the work of Damien Hirst</a></span></span>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-67342505846636087912013-03-07T07:26:00.001-08:002013-03-07T07:26:51.265-08:00Art by itself cannot save... really?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5ubnJ_pzdIv7coz_t3LgZiPUSw8qZxadGE5hFOekEtcvUN5hqsR7hkpMa_sU0Is4rOJqPYTV_j-TbYUq8UoVrNljBbAZLXaLFxR4o1SqKeztdtLe1b0I32JuOYoEqOy6e1JZRga3bVFs/s1600/Rembrandt+-+Three+Crosses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5ubnJ_pzdIv7coz_t3LgZiPUSw8qZxadGE5hFOekEtcvUN5hqsR7hkpMa_sU0Is4rOJqPYTV_j-TbYUq8UoVrNljBbAZLXaLFxR4o1SqKeztdtLe1b0I32JuOYoEqOy6e1JZRga3bVFs/s320/Rembrandt+-+Three+Crosses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<div style="color: #101269; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">‘Art by itself cannot save. Art by itself cannot put us in touch with the divine, or transform us, or make us into better people’ <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<div style="color: #101269; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ted Turnau, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Popologetics</span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
As I came across this quote a couple of months ago, and pondered on what Turnau is saying, I felt at once both immensely <b>frustrated </b>and<b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">completely <b>liberated<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">. Let me explain both having had some time to dwell on it:</span></b></span></b><br />
<br />
Firstly, I felt deep frustration at the fruitlessness of what I was doing week in, week out. Is my art really not useful at all for the kingdom? Can it really not lead people to Christ? Are my grand aspirations of wishing to transform people's view of the world completely redundant? I felt a frustration at Turnau's prognosis on my work that unsettled me. <br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
But secondly, I think the reason I felt frustrated was precisely because Turnau had pinpointed something in my proud heart that needed to be disturbed and wrestled with. As I thought more and more about his words, a deep sense of liberation occupied my heart. What a refreshing tonic to my hard-working, high-achieving soul, that my own art, my own works, my own efforts, by themselves, cannot save. My work can in no way supply the deep heart transplant that the world so desperately needs. What a relief! So often I have had such grand aspirations for my work - too grand in fact. Whilst I long for my work to reflect our awe-inspiring Creator God, and to be a window, a pointer, a signpost, a glimpse of his all-redemptive power and glorious future hope, it is a deeply humbling thing to recognise and stand by the Cross of Christ as the <i>only thing</i> that can save. The Cross remains the only thing that can put us in touch with God himself, the divine, as that curtain is torn down. The cross remains the only thing that can transform us as our sin is forgiven. And day by day The Cross is the only thing that can make me into a better person as I continue live in light of it. <br />
<br />
Overall I think Turnau's quote is wonderfully liberating as it lifts the pressure off me, and my work. I am able to live and work for Jesus, my work is able to be a window, a pointer, a glimpse of the gospel in different ways, without the pressure for anything more. And most importantly it shifts the glory from myself, onto the one who is wholly worthy and deserving: The Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />
Turnau's simple and liberating words have been a necessary pin-prick to my balloon of pride.<br />
<br />
What about you?<br />
<br />
<br />Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-7847267907665268232013-02-26T07:38:00.001-08:002013-02-26T07:38:56.269-08:00A Theology of Art in Five Minutes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/hockney.nichols-canyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/hockney.nichols-canyon.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just stumbled across this </span></span><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/ask-pastor-john/a-theology-of-art-in-five-minutes" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">theological snapshot from John Piper</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> - it is literally what it says on the tin: a Theology of Art in 5 minutes. Grab a cuppa, have a listen, cringe at the Americanisms and be encouraged and spurred on in your creative endeavours!</span></span><br />
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<br />Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-77836619925856919402013-02-08T06:46:00.001-08:002013-02-08T06:46:13.266-08:00Blog silence ended... (if only it was a sponsored silence!)Oh dear folks, it's been 2 months since we lasted posted on here! The arts work has been keeping us busy for sure! In the midst of our shameful arts blog silence, here's a few things we've been talking about and preparing for:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ifeseuropeanartsconf.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/logo_double-vision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="84" src="http://ifeseuropeanartsconf.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/logo_double-vision.jpg" width="200" /></a>1.<a href="http://ifeseuropeanartsconf.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://ifeseuropeanartsconf.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Double vision</a> We're super excited about this conference for fine artists and art historians happening 28th June to 6th July. If you haven't yet checked it out, click on the link and have a gander at what's planned: it's going to be a brilliant week fuelled with inspiring talks, Bible readings, seminars, the Provence landscape, french food, creative company and networking. Places are limited and booking up fast so grab a friend and book your place!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWmL6PXFHLpnrT-7ChOJls8HQQX5iHRi9NZYpwCPf19fAsQhi8070VCIdtj9W2hzk2EM-G9P3zTY2ypo7Vvrh_eWdXykytb_jiapbRXaBS2oOEKHpAWkcfiHTWrH1VkFUSFNDaVK0GSU/s1600/interface+feb+13.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWmL6PXFHLpnrT-7ChOJls8HQQX5iHRi9NZYpwCPf19fAsQhi8070VCIdtj9W2hzk2EM-G9P3zTY2ypo7Vvrh_eWdXykytb_jiapbRXaBS2oOEKHpAWkcfiHTWrH1VkFUSFNDaVK0GSU/s200/interface+feb+13.tiff" width="151" /></a></div>
2. <a href="http://www.morphearts.org/#!__events" target="_blank">Scottish Interface</a> Each year the Scottish Interface weekend is a real highlight for anyone who attends. And it's NEXT WEEKEND! It's combined with Morphe Arts, and it's a joy to partner with them, and fuel conversations between students and graduates as you grapple with what it is to live and speak for Jesus in the creative arts. Craig, Lois and I will all be there, and look forward to chatting, mingling and talking creativity with all of you who are coming. If you haven't yet booked and are keen, click the link and get involved.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuQeFzcqtTNIkR0LBvxpMrifursb4EOHhGUdlXe4Kt9EiN7Yv7bcZDgGaBLW8BXgIr5ZtDK96ZlHGwFj8Sn5M87I0Sp-yfey0x3gA_f897gpUlN5Jx0wZPwJaTOonbhyAOZ7gMoMZcq4/s1600/nwa+image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuQeFzcqtTNIkR0LBvxpMrifursb4EOHhGUdlXe4Kt9EiN7Yv7bcZDgGaBLW8BXgIr5ZtDK96ZlHGwFj8Sn5M87I0Sp-yfey0x3gA_f897gpUlN5Jx0wZPwJaTOonbhyAOZ7gMoMZcq4/s200/nwa+image.tiff" width="200" /></a>3. <a href="http://newwordalive.org/event/student-track" target="_blank">New Word Alive</a> sneak preview: Yes that's right, this year we're not only covering France and Scotland, but the arts work is heading to North Wales to New Word Alive week 2! We shall be leading a track for art students and anyone interested in grappling with the arts as a Christian. Word on the street: there's some heavily discounted student places still available so if you're kicking around on your long Easter break, why not come along? Click the link....<br />
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Between those three things, there should be something for everyone, whether you're north, south, east or west! We'd love to see you and look forward to chatting to you there!Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-60561655025300370402012-12-04T12:57:00.000-08:002012-12-04T12:57:09.251-08:00Priceless or Worthless?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZJsfoxh-ZFjlawrI1mdys0HSrCbm2iM06qZaUMlcjQk9P7XjBcUqn-ILPh9G90AilpMEb-rikNAW6toBp2fMKPpH1qnxZCrWbe397bZhU-xzjr4D4kK9_7LxlXr2lBBNLyWhGhowO7g/s1600/article-1352933453089-1605F758000005DC-193995_304x528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZJsfoxh-ZFjlawrI1mdys0HSrCbm2iM06qZaUMlcjQk9P7XjBcUqn-ILPh9G90AilpMEb-rikNAW6toBp2fMKPpH1qnxZCrWbe397bZhU-xzjr4D4kK9_7LxlXr2lBBNLyWhGhowO7g/s400/article-1352933453089-1605F758000005DC-193995_304x528.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Masterpiece No.1 (Royal Red and Blue)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This Mark Rothko painting was
sold for £47.3 million recently.<span> </span>Here is
a comment I read in the Metro the other week <span style="font-size: large;">written in response</span> to a positive blurb
about the painting…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Hana, what you don’t seem to
understand about modern, abstract art is how stupid the concept is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
Someone makes
blocks of colour on a canvas that a child could reproduce, but apparently it’s
worth millions because we attach some arbitrary ‘meaning’ to how the blocks are
arranged and think it is soulful and insightful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actual artists who have the skill to paint
something worthwhile are being passed over in favour of the guy who spilled
paint on the canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
When did
painting become about not actually painting anything? ”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So the question is, ‘what is the
Christian response to a comment like this?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is this kind of abstract art ‘meaningful’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it worth £47.3 million?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well to answer these questions the best thing
to do is ask some more questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
are three simple questions that can be applied to any work of art that will
help us to form a more grounded opinion than that of the person above.</div>
<br />
<ol>
<li><b><span style="font-size: large;">Who?</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who is
Mark Rothko?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is his view of
the world (religion, culture etc)?</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666;">Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was a
Russian-American Jewish painter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
classified as an <span style="color: #666666;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">abstract expressionist</span>, although he
himself rejected this label and even resisted classification as an
"abstract painter".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
influenced by artists like Paul Klee and Georges Rouault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was influenced by two world wars (as a
Jew) in his lifetime and the philosophy of <span style="text-decoration: none;">Friedrich Nietzsche</span>.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What?</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
is the painting about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is
Rothko trying to achieve by painting this picture?</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666;">Rothko was interested …“only in
expressing basic human emotions — tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. And the
fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures
shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions . . . The people who
weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I
painted them. And if you, as you say, are moved only by their colour
relationship, then you miss the point.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Evaluate!</b></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span> </span>Is
it Successful?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Rothko say what
he’s trying to say well?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From a
Christian point of view what is good about his work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is bad about his work?</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666;">Rothko is clearly interested in
human feeling and emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
painting above he uses a simple language to communicate a human experience that
goes beyond words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is interested in
the experience of something higher and more profound.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666;">Rothko offers to share with his
viewers an experience and in my view he does it very well indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have ever stood in front of a Rothko
painting you will know that they are very powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do make you feel something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are more than simply blocks of colour on
a canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666;">But what do we make of this
painting as Christians?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it is good
because it places high value on elements of Gods creation - colour and form are
prized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also suggests there is great
meaning in these elements of creation and that beyond them is something (or
someone) greater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rothko may not have
believed in the God of the bible but he did recognise and honestly communicate
his experience of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, from a
Christian perspective Rothko is interested in good things but rather than
seeing God in those things (in colour, form texture etc) and turning to
worship, he indulged in a personal ‘religious’ experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So in my view, Rothko’s painting
is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very insightful and
valuable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it worth £47.3
million?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure about that!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My answers to these questions are
brief but you can see that very quickly your view of a painting can change just
by doing a couple of simple Google searches!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-2892166472859832842012-11-13T01:50:00.000-08:002012-11-13T01:50:07.768-08:00Fearing God vs Fearing Man: Who's opinion matters most?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Audience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Audience.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
How much does the question 'what do people think?' grip you?</div>
<br />
It may be the big crit that leaves you either utterly crushed or flying high, or your tutor's off-hand comment that shapes your mood for the rest of the day...<br />
<br />
Maybe you fear people seeing your new work in case your reputation wobbles in the lime light...<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>How do people's opinions affect making your work?</i><br />
<br />
Making work is one of those things where there will always be an audience, normally of more than one. Consider your course-mates looking over your shoulder in the studio, your tutor's cursory glance and more intense perusal, the wider audience who may see it in the coming months, and the harshest critic of all: yourself. Fearing man can be stifling. It can be all-consuming.<br />
<br />
So what do we do with this desire for people to like our work? Is it wrong to seek approval? Is it wrong to want to be successful in what we do? Is that really fearing man above God?<br />
<br />
Andrew Jones, a vicar in east London, gave some very helpful advice to the London Interface gathering this month. He started off by saying very simply that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'there is an appropriate way of wanting people to like your work, and there's wanting people to like your work <i>too much</i>. The former leads to pleasure and an outgoingness, as your own success leads to wanting others to experience such delight, while the latter leads to pride, and shutting yourself off from other people.'</blockquote>
Pride: something we all are tainted by. An attitude that creeps up on both success and failure and robs us from responding with integrity. Pride isn't just a puffed up feeling when we've been successful. Pride is also the root of feeling utterly despairing and crushed at failure too. It's the attitude that imprisons us either with 'I deserve better' or 'look at me, aren't I great?', both of which place <i>ourselves</i> at the centre.<br />
<br />
<b>So what's the antidote?</b><br />
In <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%2014:1-6&version=NIV" target="_blank">Ezekiel 14v1-6</a> we are shown how people had "set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces" - notice the language here: they're not setting up idols as we might imagine back in the Old Testament, whether we think of the golden calf or the many statues of Baal. No, here we read they are setting up idols <i>i</i><i>n their hearts</i>. It's our hearts that are the issue.<br />
<br />
So when we think to ourselves, "If I stop showing my work I'll be ok", or "If I just have one taste of success I'll be content and satisfied", we are ignoring the root issue: that our heart is still captured by what others think. <br />
<br />
Thomas Chalmers, one of those wise men back in the 19th century once wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"the only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one"</span></blockquote>
God is after your heart. But in a way far removed from the simplistic "God loves you" and so everything will be alright. The gospel digs way past the superficial and instead invites us to repent. To acknowledge that we are more sinful, more proud, more enamoured by other's opinions than we believe. But that there is freedom and honesty in coming to God. Because in the gospel we are more loved and more accepted than we can ever imagine, through Christ. The gospel accepts us just as Christ is. Which is far better than just as I am. The only way to dispossess our hearts of the affection of ourselves, or other people's opinions, is by the expulsive power of Christ and and the very brilliant gospel.<br />
<br />
So the question that I leave you to ponder today:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What are you looking for in the approval of others, that Christ does not give you?</blockquote>
<br />
<br />Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-72780855444615017282012-10-24T08:44:00.000-07:002012-10-24T08:44:43.347-07:00Understanding the world we live in...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Do you ever have trouble discerning what exactly makes some of your friends so apathetic about life? Do you ever wonder how they can think that there's no need for them to take the claims of Jesus seriously? Without knowing it, we are saturated in a culture that has been well and truly affected by 'postmodernism': the call to reject truth claims, external authority and meaning, and to start living how </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">we</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> want.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There are some really useful resources out there to help us think through the persuasive and deceptive call of postmodernism. If you're at art school at the moment, you are no doubt saturated with postmodern attitudes without even realising it. Let's not be blinded by the lies it throws at us: why not spend some time delving into it from a Christian perspective to help you stand firm at college this week.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=261208143386003506#overview/src=dashboard" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mark Meynel</span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">l</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> is a minister at All Soul's, London. He loves Christ. He loves culture. Listen to these three really useful talks for an overview into postmodernism and a fauré into our current culture's mindset.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #041060;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b><a href="http://markmeynell.wordpress.com/marks-writing-speaking/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Even better than the real thing</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> - a day seminar seeking to understand Postmodernism and how it affects Christians (recorded 2006)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: puritan-1, puritan-2, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #041060;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<a href="http://www.ivpbooks.com/largecovers/9780851114927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.ivpbooks.com/largecovers/9780851114927.jpg" width="126" /></span></a><a href="webkit-fake-url://BC7184DE-C441-49D7-8D15-C7AB43DF867F/9780851114927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #041060;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Marcus Honeysett</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> used to be UCCF's London team leader. He's had much insight into the student world and has written a very helpful book: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Meltdown: Making sense of a culture in Crisis.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Marcus goes through the various academic theories that have underpinned postmodernism, and how they have been translated into wider society. Each chapter takes a theory at a time (sometimes it's quite heavy going, but worth reading if you really want to grapple with the issue). He then gives really helpful case studies at the end of each section, challenging us to think through the implications of believing, or not believing the postmodernist claims. A brilliant book to read in a group and discuss together.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #041060; font-family: puritan-1, puritan-2, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span></span>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-8134939246820217132012-10-11T04:35:00.000-07:002012-10-11T04:36:44.845-07:00It all starts with the mind...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When Jesus is asked what the most important commandment is in Mark's gospel, here is how he responds in Chapter 12:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The most important one', answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">."</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jesus has taken the most famous commandment in the book of Deuteronomy (chapter 6) but he's actually added something: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Love the Lord with all your mind</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To love God with all our minds is to be </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">engaged with what He thinks about the world. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">grappling with what He thinks about art. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">taking seriously His views on how we live life at art college </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and standing up as someone who follows their convictions. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Being a Christian means integrating your faith with </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">every</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> part of life. Everything we do, say, think and act upon stems from our minds. Having the right thinking will impact every part of your life. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Romans chapter 12 Paul follows up on the importance of our minds with the following:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">renewing of your mind</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These are deeply challenging words aren't they? In view of God's mercy, in view of the glorious gospel, the extravagant love that has been showered on us through Christ, we are called 'not to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.'</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What's the pattern of the world of art college? What do you notice about the way people live, and think about the world? The only way that you will live, and want to live, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">any </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">differently is by </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">renewing your mind</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and bathing in the sunshine of the gospel. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As we spend time with the Lord, as we dwell on the riches of the gospel and his many mercies to us each and every day, we will be loving the Lord with our minds. It's not a pie in the sky kind of faith we have. It's a deeply intentional desire to be renewing our minds with truth, with love, with Christ.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the overflow of loving the Lord with our minds will be a deep desire to integrate every part of our lives with our faith - to be loving him in the way that we make art work, to be seeking to honour him in the way that we don't gossip in the studio, and to be sharing the hope that we have with others as we engage in conversation.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So as you go into college today, be a thinking Christian.</span><br />
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<br />Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-78556272921774959972012-09-21T08:17:00.003-07:002012-09-21T08:19:40.128-07:00"Dropstone"<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">P</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">eter Glasgow reflects on his time as artist in residence for FORUM: UCCF's national CU leaders conference...</span></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This year I was the Artist in Residence at UCCF’s FORUM conference - I held an exhibition of my work entitled “Dropstone” and spent the week interacting with the students who were there. To be honest it was a bit of an up and down week - I think it’s ok to say that! A lot of the time my expectations didn’t match up with reality and I wasn’t properly prepared for what it would be like exhibiting my work to a thousand students. So I just wanted to share some of the lessons I learned and maybe something I say will prepare you for showing your own work and the challenges that brings. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r7kPV98tSPZWfrEZ_Bjn9aaQ21D3jeNi6WOnzk5LrjkPRB0gBUd1bDnud56S5uYxD1_u74I5cdUbiHqt63xZxHJCpFyO1iaSCvkhoYBWQ5LziYzacru4FvYhHZVhOQIAmkZlotI3X-g/s1600/FORUm+2+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r7kPV98tSPZWfrEZ_Bjn9aaQ21D3jeNi6WOnzk5LrjkPRB0gBUd1bDnud56S5uYxD1_u74I5cdUbiHqt63xZxHJCpFyO1iaSCvkhoYBWQ5LziYzacru4FvYhHZVhOQIAmkZlotI3X-g/s200/FORUm+2+small.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First of all - I simply wasn’t prepared for any sort of disappointment. Being a final year Fine Art student I leap at any chance to show my work and having a full exhibition to myself sounded like the best deal in the world. I didn’t realise that it’s pretty normal for artists to feel an anti-climax when they show their work. After all, we put so much into it and we are passionate about what we do and it’s going to be disheartening when most people looking at our work don’t have the same level of enthusiasm. Exhibiting is a hard experience and it’s ok to be disappointed or disheartened - I think If I’d have known that, I would have coped with the anti-climax better. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also wasn’t prepared for how vulnerable I’d feel with my work up, in front of a thousand people. Now most of us believe in what we do and have confidence in our work, but it doesn’t take away the fact that showing your work makes you vulnerable. As artists so much of who we are we put in our work and how that’s received by others. At FORUM I was really helped by a friend who came alongside me and reminded me that as artists, when we show our work, we are serving others - and being a servant doesn’t always feel great. I thought other people would be serving me - praising me for how good my work was - but actually I was meant to be serving them by sharing my art practice. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus has woven being a servant into what we do as artists. So if you’re showing your work - prepare to feel vulnerable when you do that - thats normal! </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ER26VR1x9h4kBC8slBVIWEOsvfeXEjI-4W6ruT43QbfQxnEJzenY_C7myNXJicrLuRRb3pIZ4z5ei5K41E89jcAkVuLnT3I3Nq1WKJplSQ-lN-DqprdzvBA2eYx9Lf0T4wHURU1z2a0/s1600/Ollie+forum+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ER26VR1x9h4kBC8slBVIWEOsvfeXEjI-4W6ruT43QbfQxnEJzenY_C7myNXJicrLuRRb3pIZ4z5ei5K41E89jcAkVuLnT3I3Nq1WKJplSQ-lN-DqprdzvBA2eYx9Lf0T4wHURU1z2a0/s200/Ollie+forum+5.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally when those feelings of disappointment and insecurity come, my first instinct is to wish that more people liked my work. But actually that wouldn’t solve the problem and if I believe that I’m just going to keep working and working for the next big “success”. No one is going to like my work enough to satisfy my desire for approval and validation. So my only other option is to turn to my Heavenly Father and be satisfied that I am his child and He loves me - and my identity and worth is not shaped by my success as an artist. Once I realised that I was free to have my work out there, trust God with the disappointments and enjoy the wonderful little conversations that I was able to have with students. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So I hope you get an opportunity to show your work sometime soon, and maybe as you do that you might hit up against some disappointment, and I would just encourage you to keep going and to put your trust in our Creative, Loving and Wonderful Heavenly Father. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Peter is going into his final year studying Painting at Wimbledon College of Art, London. To see more of his work have a gander at <a href="http://pglasgow.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">his excellent blog</a></i></span></span></div>
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Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-90402359869957297132012-08-30T02:07:00.001-07:002012-08-30T02:07:14.280-07:00Know anyone starting art college this september?<br />
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<br />
It's an exciting time as freshers prepare to head to art college! But it's a daunting one as well...<br />
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If you know anyone who's starting college this september take a few minutes to point them to <a href="http://www.bethinking.org/your-course/introductory/studying---art-fine-art.htm">an article we've recently written</a> just for them!<br />
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Craig and I take a few minutes to help answer some questions like:<br />
What does being a Christian look like at art school?<br />
Is God even interested in art?<br />
Does my faith have any bearing on my work as an artist?<br />
What if it's hard being a Christian?<br />
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Why not check out the rest of the website too - it's full of really useful articles, talks, and interviews that are all there to equip you to be a thinking Christian...<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #231a11; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-32414941446390916932012-08-03T07:01:00.000-07:002012-08-03T07:01:08.904-07:003 Issues Facing Recent Graduates<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444;">Introducing Moprhē Arts</span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jb46JYv2y9QycHoj0odz4QiTJq4rCuCeDGKdhFpHbfvsfRmN-aLchUI5bcR5eG6sZr86j98ncbYyK0OfAGQewEPcltWXFA08rjQRHSu7Y6zICBZM7liXvLIZJuuUU2fGEQob2hMP2b8/s1600/Morphe+Logo+-+Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jb46JYv2y9QycHoj0odz4QiTJq4rCuCeDGKdhFpHbfvsfRmN-aLchUI5bcR5eG6sZr86j98ncbYyK0OfAGQewEPcltWXFA08rjQRHSu7Y6zICBZM7liXvLIZJuuUU2fGEQob2hMP2b8/s320/Morphe+Logo+-+Green.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Moprhē works predominantly with Christians in the arts with
a commitment to biblical discipleship, the study of God's word and prayer. This
either happens one to one or at group gatherings and events. We want to
encourage graduates to make art that plays it's part in the development of
God's world, bringing blessing and influence in the area of the arts they find
themselves in.</span> </h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Get In touch with <a href="http://www.morphearts.org/">Morphē</a> if you are a Christian working in the arts in the UK.</span></h3>
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I asked Cully who works for Morphē up in Scotland,</div>
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leaving art school?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Lack of artistic community and peer learning</span></b></div>
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After art school it is not easy to find the community that
students experience and graduates can feel isolated. </div>
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<a href="http://www.morphearts.org/">Morphē</a> provides a network of artists and regular gatherings
to meet, share and discuss ideas, and enjoy ongoing critique of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian artists can belong to a community
where no excuses need to be made for their creative practice.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Maintaining practice under financial pressure</span></b></div>
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Art school doesn't seem to prepare graduates for the reality
of how to make a living as an artist after art school.</div>
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Many artists have to find other ways to pay the bills and
often don't have the time or motivation to make art.</div>
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<a href="http://www.morphearts.org/">Morphē</a> provides mentoring from experienced artists who can
advise recent graduates on how to commit to a career in the arts with real
expectations.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Competition and Opportunities to showcase work</span></b></div>
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It is difficult to find galleries and agencies who will take
on recent graduates or any other opportunities to showcase work as there is a
lot of competition. This makes it difficult to gain experience and establish
your name in the art world.</div>
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<a href="http://www.morphearts.org/">Morphē</a> encourages collaboration within the network which
encourages artists to help each other. We also offer opportunities for artists
to exhibit, to work on projects with others and to take part in art prizes and
residencies. Our website has a section dedicated to offering practical
resources for seeking opportunities in the art world.</div>
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<a href="http://beyondairguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/book-is-out.html">'Beyond Air Guitar'</a> by Ally Gordon has a chapter dedicated
to coping with life after art college with resources and interviews with
established artists.</div>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-79117538256710376062012-06-22T06:25:00.000-07:002012-06-22T06:25:33.918-07:00Book Review: Imagine<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Thinking about what to read this summer? </b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>We asked Peter Glasgow (studying painting at Wimbledon) to tell us why 'Imagine' by Steve Turner is on his, and Interface's "must read" book list:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just the other day I met up with a Christian friend who was talking about a weekend away she had gone on last year. She summarised what the speaker had to say with the throwaway comment, “he was talking about withdrawing from popular culture.” Later on as I was traveling home I was still mulling that sentence over in my head. Now obviously I didn’t hear this speaker and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but taking that sentence at face value it seems to have a very negative view of popular culture. As a Christian am I meant to be withdrawing from popular culture? Should I not enjoy watching movies? Or listening to secular music? Or walking wide eyed round the latest show at the White Cube? Are the arts and popular culture to be avoided like the plague? If that’s the Bible’s perspective then I’ve got some serious re-thinking to do as a second year Fine Art Painting student. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What stopped that spiral of guilt and confusion was remembering some of the stuff that I’d read in Steve Turner’s book “Imagine”. If you’re studying anything in the arts this is just a must read. It’s basic foundational stuff for Christians who love God and also love the arts. Steve really clearly tackles a lot of the common struggles that Christian students in the arts face, dealing with all the questions I just mentioned and more. Can I only be a Christian in the arts if my art explicitly mentions Jesus or the gospel? Will people in church not look down on me for pursuing a career in the arts? Is God happier with me if I’m listening to “Christian music” on my ipod? Does God like the arts? If any of those questions have floated round in your head, which I’m sure they have, then “Imagine” is the perfect way to start thinking it though. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>So why not pick up a copy and get reading - you could decide to read it with a friend over the summer and chat through a couple of chapters together, or just dip in and out when you fancy. Either way, Imagine is a must read!</b></span></span></div>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-77627432131436397402012-05-24T05:07:00.001-07:002012-05-24T05:32:33.091-07:00Spontaneous flamenco dancing, old faces reunited, some interesting acting skills and lots of real coffee…<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sarah White (Relay Worker in Aberystwyth) updates us on the Interface Wales day that happened back in April...</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Almost a month ago now we held the second Interface Arts Day in Wales. In comparison to the work of Interface which has been going for many, many years- in Scotland and in London - Wales is only just beginning its exciting journey to develop work with its Christian artists; encourage students across Wales to really engage with their subject area, think critically about the contemporary art world, where their work fits in, pursue excellence in their work and think through and question what it means to be an artist and a Christian and how we can engage intelligently with the dialogues taking place in the contemporary art world.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This year the Interface day moved from Cardiff to Aberystwyth and took place in the University’s School of Art. It was fantastic to have the entire School of Art to ourselves; which is a beautiful and intriguing building full of lots of exciting art work. A big thank you must be said to the wonderful porters who work at the School of Art; who are always smiling and willing to help with all of our strange requests and who put up with our crazy and loud improvised drama which we created around the School of Art and right outside the porter’s office.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were joined for the day by the Morphe team; Ally Gordon, Cully, Lois Adams and Ed Mayhew. It was such a blessing to have them with us; they brought with them bundles of joy, enthusiasm and wisdom, which was very contagious. Ally spoke in the morning on the task of the Christian artist today, followed two seminars entitled, ‘World Cinema Meets The Ten Commandments’, ‘Satire and the Written and Spoken Word’ alongside a gallery visit to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, and a Q and A session with Ally.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were joined by artists young and old and from all disciplines. There were students from Bangor, Wrexham, Aberystwyth and Cardiff Universities. There was even a mini-reunion between three very special people who used to work for UCCF and help with the Christian arts work in Wales; John Harvey, Anne Brown and Rhiain Davies. John is a well respected professor of art at the school in Aberystwyth, Rhiain is a very talented professional illustrator and Anne specialises in History of Art and speaks at many events across the world. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, one thing I learnt very well on the Interface day was that however much planning you do, things can still go wrong, that’s when you improvise; which is exactly what we did! The evening entertainment turned into an incredible time of hilarious, thought-provoking, inspiring and strange sharing of work. Led by Ed Mayhew – who rightly pointed out that we can learn just as much through doing as through listening - the entire group proceeded to navigate their way through the school of art, together acting out and developing a story of murder, addiction, mystery, love and something to do with scarves! We ended up in the gallery space downstairs and closed the evening with a wonderful time of performance by Rhodri Brady (monologue), Ben Cribbin (poetry), Ed Mayhew (comedy through music!), Ian Ho (jazz piano) and Sarah White – that’s me - (dance). Oh plus some spontaneous flamenco dancing from Dan Meiring (Aberystwyth staff worker) and Lois Adams.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All in all it was a wonderful, joy filled day which was such an encouragement and a thrill to be a part of, personally I can’t wait till next year!</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Faith...</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This week, i've had the great pleasure of talking with two of the final year girls in the University of the Arts CU: <b>Faith <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">who's been studying Painting at Wimbledon, and <b>Sarah</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">who's been studying Illustration at Camberwell. </span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Enjoy reading their insights, joys, challenges and thoughts on their time at art college...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Looking back on your 3/4 years at art college, what have been some highlights?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith:</span></b></span> Well the biggest thing was becoming a Christian in first year! My whole purpose for life and my degree was now completely different. Getting involved in the CU and meeting Christians weekly for encouragement has been brilliant. Knowing that this three years has been the most important of my life - because I have been saved, I have a unique identity, and realising that even when i wasn’t particularly keen on art college at the start, I can now absolutely see why I have come!</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">There are so many! I guess first year was so much fun where everything was new and i was making new friends every day! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>What have you found particularly hard?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith:</span></b></span> Knowing in my head that my identity is in Christ, but I still need to be myself, so working out what that looks like. The challenge of being arty involves such a wide-ranging variety of identities, so working out how I live out my faith, and how it works out in my art practice has been a challenge in amongst the ‘anything-goes’ nature of college. I’ve desperately wanted to integrate my Christian life and my work without editing or weakening either - i’ve wanted to live fully for the two without compromising on either one - this has been hard!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah:</span></b></span> Trying to get the balance right with work, not idolising it and always putting God first, even when there's a massive dead line looming!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>How has it been as a Christian?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith:</span></b></span> I think it’s been amazing to see with clarity. Once I realised that I was a stranger in the world because of my identity in Christ, I began to see the futility of the career-based life and the worldly desires that are pretty much the air you breathe at college. God’s helped me to see life in black and white. Also it’s been brilliant to see this year that my future is not set on my degree show but on eternity with Christ. I’ve been realising more and more what I do have in Christ - but with that comes the challenge to witness about the certain hope we have in a sincere way.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> It's been awesome but also hard. Back home I didn't know that many christians my age and it's so encouraging coming to london and finding so many young christians who are super passionate about God. It's really encouraging! But talking about God at uni can be hard.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>What would you do differently if you were to do it all again?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith:</span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></b>I think I would have a different attitude. Partly because I started art school with the career-based attitude that most people have, rather than knowing Jesus and knowing he’s got everything in his hands. My whole perspective has changed - I am a new creation, so I would approach everything differently from the beginning!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah:</span></span></b> I'd try to be more confident in talking about God at uni.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>What advice would you give to a Christian just starting out at art school?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith</span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">:</span></b> Work really hard and focus on your studies - you’ve been given time to develop your gifts so make the most of it. Remember that God’s put in you that place. Approach everything prayerfully.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah:</span></span></b> Find a great church!!! SOOOO important, I found one where the friends I have there feel like family, its such a blessing. Get stuck into CU as well it's great encouragement midweek.</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="pastedGraphic.pdf" src="webkit-fake-url://D4DC5174-BBF5-442A-98D9-1D7F500B07F9/pastedGraphic.pdf" /></span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>How do you feel about the prospect of graduating in a few weeks time?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Faith</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Excited! God’s given me security in my church family which I am grateful for, and knowing that my future lies in his hands. I feel very reflective looking back on my time at Wimbledon. I’ve learnt double what I thought i would - both becoming a Christian and growing in my faith, and developing in my painting practice - it’s been brilliant!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sarah:</span></span></b> Excited but super scared!! Can't wait to start working!</span></span></span></div>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-86161175230074366512012-05-11T04:18:00.000-07:002012-05-11T04:18:31.412-07:00Towards an Integrated Christian Imagination<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Big thanks to Mark Meynell (see end of blog post for more info) for a thoroughly stimulating talk last night at University of the Arts, London! For those who couldn’t make it/ are interested, I will do my best to summarise the wealth of wisdom, insight and challenge that Mark brought to us as those studying the creative arts. I warn you, there is MUCH to take in, and my summarising skills are weak, so though this is a long blog post, it's worth sticking with it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mark took us to <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012:%201-2&version=NIVUK">Romans 12:1-2</a> first of all to help us see the fundamental difference that exists between Christians, and non-Christians. He explained the difference in simple terms: paganism bribes God into doing something for us, whether it’s with money, time or effort, essentially bringing ‘my agenda to God’. As Christians however we live <b>in response</b> to the assurance, the confidence, the love and the mercy that we already have in the gospel. This means the way we do life is profoundly different, as we are called to be living sacrifices, those who die to self and live to Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What a challenge to start with! To remember that we are indeed Christ’s and we are called to live in response to his grace. The idea of dying to self is often so hard, and yet it also brings such freedom as we do. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mark really helped us to see that we are living in response to God’s round-the-clock mercy; there is never any point when we are not his. <b>We are complex beings, all of whom are for Him</b>. This in turn calls for us to integrate our whole lives: body, mind, soul, heart as we live in response to his mercy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">So, where as post-moderns fragment,</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we are called to <b>integrate</b> as part of round-the-clock discipleship.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So what does this mean for our imaginations? What does this mean for the way we approach our creative disciplines?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mark had a couple of big points for us, both of which were really helpful on broadening our perspective on what’s involved as we imagine and create:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">1.</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">We are theologians of the imagination</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Artists are societies’ <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">visionaries</span></b> or to quote Mark ‘society’s equivalent of specsavers’! As artists we help people to see what they don’t naturally see. We are more deliberate in feeling, seeing, hearing, tasting, and sensing the world around us because we study it in a more intense and deliberate way, and so we are making people see more of what’s around them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This has been keenly felt recently in the work of Hockney as his RA exhibition, but to quote Hockney himself as he saw a Monet exhibition, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> “ </span></span></span>There was a fantastic Monet exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995. They got a million people to see it. There are forty-six Monets in the Art Institute’s collection, which they lend to other exhibitions, so a lot of museums owed them a favour. As a result, for this exhibition they had got together about a hundred and fifty of his paintings. I went to see it one Sunday morning. It was fabulous. When I came out, I started looking at the bushes on Michigan Avenue with a little more care, because Monet had looked at his surroundings with such attention. He made you see more. Van Gogh does that for you too. He makes you see the world around just a little more intensely. And you enjoy seeing it like that, or I do."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://markmeynell.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/david-hockney-woldgate-woods-232329-nov-2006.jpg?w=910&h=456" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://markmeynell.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/david-hockney-woldgate-woods-232329-nov-2006.jpg?w=910&h=456" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I absolutely agree with Mark that this is exactly what happened after seeing the Hockney at the RA too - I felt a more profound, and more intense delight in the mundane aspects of nature, seeing them and delighting in the wondrous in a thoroughly exhilarating way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Artists are also <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">prophets</span></b>, communicating what we see around us. It’s no longer philosophers, statesmen and preachers in the pulpit who influence culture and society. Rather, it’s the media, artists, singer-songwriters, celebrities and the like who are our culture’s prophets, confronting us with some of the realities around us. Whether we like it or not, we have an influence as culture-makers, and contribute to the visual plethora of stimuli around us. </span></span></div>
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Because we look more, we see more and therefore have responsibility to do more. </blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is weighty stuff. Mark’s question to us: Do you feel intimated by this? </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I certainly did last night. But what a wonderful thing to realise that we’re not on our own - we should be on our knees, praying hard for the Lord to guide us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">2. The visionary and prophetic mandate</span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In light of all this, we were encouraged to see that our mind is absolutely central to how we live out our lives. Godliness so often begins in the mind, as we are motivated by the grace we have received. When we know it in our heart and mind, we then can’t help but respond in action and response, living in view of God’s mercy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Paul calls Christians in Philippians 4 to fill their minds with good things as they strive to be godly:</span></span></div>
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“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”</blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But where do these verses leave us in the context of our creativity?</span></span></div>
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So often, they lead down a ‘blind alley of kitsch, cliche and platitude.’</blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As discussed last night, these verses have been used out of context, to restrict what artists can paint and portray, and have become a shackle to creative endeavours. Mark was keen to show us that though we are to strive for godliness (which is the context of these verses), <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">integrated Christian art must have a place for the ugly and despairing, because that is real life, that is our world</span></b>. The Old Testament prophets are wonderful examples of communicating the despairing world they see in front of them, and speaking into that situation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So where does this leave us?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With 3 valuable pointers regarding the content of our work and imaginations:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Truth: exposing the false, reflecting the real</span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Scripture is our foundation, our benchmark of understanding. <b>We can create in provocative, quirky and poetic ways but we have to be true and real</b>. It is right to expose the horrors of the world, and being truthful will involve exposing the ugly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have you read any of Calvin’s Seerveld’s stuff? If not grab hold of ‘Bearing fresh Olive leaves’ (in the book review section of this blog) and read Ch 2 on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">‘The freedom and Responsibility of the artist</span>’ - it is full of rich gems that will help you to think through these thoughts in more detail. To quote him just once here, </span></span></div>
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‘art, like anything else, is relevant if it supplies what it needed. Art that is popular is supplying what is wanted, but not necessarily what is needed, and may not therefore be relevant.’</blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Creating what is popular does not equal being relevant. We have a respobnsibility to decide what is helpful or not for us as Christians, but the challenge remains: are we willing to delve into the ugliness to expose the tensions and lies that lurk beneath?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Beauty: exposing the idolatrous, reflecting the wondrous</span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Worshipping beauty is idolatry. We worship the one to whom they all point. As people look at our work, they should cry, “Where and how are such things possible?” whether that's in the nature of our brushstroke, how we intricately piece together our textile final piece, or what themes are provoked and pointed to in a film that we create.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>T-bone Burnett</b> said there are two types of songs: </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">there are songs about the light, or songs that describe things that you can now see because of the light. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What a brilliant way to think about how we see, now we’ve been exposed to the light. God’s light shines on everything we see. Are we choosing to reflect the wonderful creation around us with integrity, in view of this light?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b>Hope: exposing the baseless, reflecting the future</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We are called to expose idoaltrous delusion, life and systems that build hope without Christ at the centre, and in turn provoke hope in a way that isn’t kitsch, cliche or trite.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What a challenge! But as Mark rightly points out, this is what society is desperate for. Do we need to be formulating a sincere language that will be able to deal with such an enormous task?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>Mark Meynell left us all feeling thoroughly encouraged in our creative calling, challenged with the weight of responsibility that comes with being those who live in view of God's mercy, and stimulated to think more and more on the wealth of rich material he gave us to ponder.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A couple of things he left us with at the end of last night are supremely helpful for us all as we think about our Christian imaginations:</span></span></div>
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<b>Remember that we can never do more than reflect the Lord’s creativity</b></blockquote>
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<b>If you’ve led one person to think and see things in a new way, it’s worth it.</b></blockquote>
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* Mark Meynell is a minister at All Soul's, Langham Place, London. He's got a <a href="http://markmeynell.wordpress.com/">great blog</a> which is well worth checking out!<br />Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-50814054142653876612012-05-10T04:36:00.003-07:002012-05-10T04:36:56.097-07:00Be a thinking fresher...<br />
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<a href="http://www.bethinking.org/Images/content/thumbnails/large/PaintPots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PaintPots" border="0" src="http://www.bethinking.org/Images/content/thumbnails/large/PaintPots.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(134, 139, 153); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(134, 139, 153); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(134, 139, 153); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(134, 139, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px;" width="428" /></a></div>
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Excitingly we are already getting emails from freshers who will be starting at art college in september!<br />
Can you remember what it was like during freshers week? How did you feel?<br />
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I know for many it's a really daunting prospect, heading into the unknown world of art school, especially as a Christian. Well, why not take time to read the <a href="http://www.bethinking.org/your-course/introductory/studying---art-fine-art.htm" target="_blank">article we've just written</a> on the bethinking website and then <b>pass it on</b> to someone you know who would benefit from it. <br />
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Why not check out the rest of the website while you're at it too - it's full of really useful articles, talks, interviews that are all there to equip you in your studies, and in your walk with Jesus.<br />
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Let's serve one another well as we seek to stand firm as God's elect, strangers in the world.Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-46031720123128379872012-04-27T03:24:00.000-07:002012-04-27T03:25:42.800-07:00I Hate Reading but I Want to Read!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpUmZUaxHJYyA-EfemCuxKjEAl6GKkaH9M8gzmuo7NuYFEEKJY9qnGXRugw0sSiEykWr96AYLbISnnu1XEzblXIbYBnc4hT8VPNKitJNrteNwz_s6gbLenwH1bp8kuzaOjyCLGIWM1sI/s1600/wsDyslexia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpUmZUaxHJYyA-EfemCuxKjEAl6GKkaH9M8gzmuo7NuYFEEKJY9qnGXRugw0sSiEykWr96AYLbISnnu1XEzblXIbYBnc4hT8VPNKitJNrteNwz_s6gbLenwH1bp8kuzaOjyCLGIWM1sI/s320/wsDyslexia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
For many creatively minded people reading is a real struggle which causes great frustration when there are countless great books (not least the bible) out there to read. In my experience working in the art colleges more than half the students I meet have been diagnosed dyslexic and there are many more (including myself) who suspect they have some form of dyslexia. If you are a student do go about getting tested; it's free and you will receive lot's of extra support from your college or university.<br />
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If you do struggle with reading don't fret! God knows why he has made you the way you are and there are wonderful things about your creative mind that competent readers can only long for.<br />
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There are plenty of resources that can help you with your reading such as audio books and online talks (check out the talk section on this blog). You can buy audio books on Amazon etc and there are lot's on Youtube for free! For example follow this link to listen to C.S Lewis's <i>The Screwtape Letters...</i><br />
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<a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/04/23/john-cleese-reading-c-s-lewiss-the-screwtape-letters/" target="_blank">The Screwtape Letters</a><br />
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I often use Bible Gateway to have the bible read out to me as I follow along. You can choose any translation and there are even options for what style you want to hear it in!<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target="_blank">Bible Gateway</a><br />
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Happy Listening!Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-80340915698847875882012-04-20T04:11:00.001-07:002012-04-20T04:11:29.822-07:00Culture Producers<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b>And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth and subdue it and have dominion… over every living thing…”</b></div>
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Genesis 1:28</div>
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After God created man he gave him dominion over every living
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave man creative freedom to
rule over his creation, to work the ground, to name the animals and by chapter
four we read that a city is built, musical instruments have been made and are
played, livestock are farmed and bronze and iron tools are forged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this and much, much more began in the
world within the lifetime of Adam!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
an amazing thing it must have been for Adam to see his blank canvas subdued and
transformed into a culture; producing culture is exciting!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycH9WK-4nck_Rc5pR8Vtdcjfsq5FFld_w9t0YngrCJ53Vd38m6o1TxoPQ-2SBnKwU1-QOpKc_HHRBg86yG02bk_i2H57sBbvoCfR_CRhoUX60grmSCl574gGI47pav5qErFyBqf3R2BQ/s1600/bon-o-bon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycH9WK-4nck_Rc5pR8Vtdcjfsq5FFld_w9t0YngrCJ53Vd38m6o1TxoPQ-2SBnKwU1-QOpKc_HHRBg86yG02bk_i2H57sBbvoCfR_CRhoUX60grmSCl574gGI47pav5qErFyBqf3R2BQ/s320/bon-o-bon.jpg" width="320" /></a>And here we are today still in the business of producing
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether we like it or not as
humanity works, plays, builds, cooks, travels, and paints pictures we are
producing culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cultures differ
around the world because people differ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the 1840s, Thomas J. Smith of London
decided to develop his bon-bon sweets which he sold in a twist of paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As sales of his bon-bons slumped, Smith began
to come up with new promotional ideas. His first tactic was to insert mottos
into the wrappers of the sweets like in fortune cookies, but this had only
limited success. Inspired by the crackle of a log as he placed it on the fire,
Smith decided to add a crackle element to his sweets by incorporating a banger
mechanism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only problem with this
was that the size of the paper wrapper had to be increased which wasn’t
practical for the packaging of a small sweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually the actual bon-bon was dropped and replaced by a small gift.
The new product was initially marketed as the <i>Cosaque</i> but the
"cracker" soon became the commonly used name as rival varieties came
on the market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so was born an
essential element of British culture – the Christmas cracker.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Everything we do churns out new culture which is unique to
our circle of influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In South
America most people have never heard of a cracker and yet here in Britain it’s
something we assume will appear on the Christmas dinner table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is true of our music, our sport, our tea
drinking habits; there is cultural diversity all over the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we have a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not mindless machines; we are mindful
human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will inevitably produce
culture but we can choose what we produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It might be that we continue to pump into the flow of the culture in
which we live, or it might be that we are counter-cultural and what we do stands
against the current.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether you are
based in an art college, a university, or an office, they all have a culture of
their own which has been produced by the people of that place over years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you ask questions of the cultures you live
in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you contributing in a Godly way
to your cultures, or are you just going with the flow?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you mindful of what you paint, sing,
dance, design?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cultural history is
easily read through the art of the time so we really do have a great responsibility
as the current generation of Christians making art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us have dominion, make work and live
lives that produce a cross shaped culture.</div>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-59861157802864551292012-04-16T02:09:00.000-07:002012-04-16T02:09:25.012-07:00Making the most of the web...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://blog.thefoundationstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spider-web-with-dew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://blog.thefoundationstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spider-web-with-dew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I like to think of the internet as a kind of spider web. Who knows where that picture developed from but I think it represents something of its never-ending nature as a place where a couple of clicks leads you down a whole different avenue to the one you were on before. <br />
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What is particularly weblike about the internet is the opportunity to build networks and find like-minded people, professionals and opportunities that can inspire and hopefully ignite our continued passion for being artists. Getting to know a couple of people and contexts can open up a web that is much wider and more far-reaching than just you creating your web on your own.<br />
(How are we doing with the web analogy? Confused yet?!)<br />
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Sometimes however it is quite hard to know how to even get yourself spinning on the web in the first place. Well in case you haven't glanced over to the right hand side of this blog, cast your eyes there now [to the 'worth checking out' section]... for what we are building there is a list of websites that hopefully will inspire you to get spinning and creating and networking and meeting and collaborating and the like.<br />
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A couple of websites to flag up for today:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhPIww1aRDOwD_Zbl4FVpLMFYXJagOj5Ivs26LtPDq1qvOz_cnR5FrEUQ36yuGUi6i18jMtR0GcfwZHxR7UpBiiUQ0g93AN_XkYk_8kym25Ru6lI2uXUfOwWSz2wpS7OXmkiE4Ej8sKI/s1600/A-N+website+image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhPIww1aRDOwD_Zbl4FVpLMFYXJagOj5Ivs26LtPDq1qvOz_cnR5FrEUQ36yuGUi6i18jMtR0GcfwZHxR7UpBiiUQ0g93AN_XkYk_8kym25Ru6lI2uXUfOwWSz2wpS7OXmkiE4Ej8sKI/s200/A-N+website+image.tiff" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.a-n.co.uk/students/" target="_blank">http://www.a-n.co.uk/students/</a>: Have a look at this website for some really helpful articles, guidelines, exhibition opportunities and more. It's worth signing up with these networks to widen your horizons and see what opportunities are out there...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbysZ2NnkiMdnLuxkMFwIhnFmSyWBg6JvyFKrsRkS4ce18tmoUViYHtfkp_rbMpxkU1_y8KHbTQr4LMk80AKp_PFr_RPuNc_LIBwYLj99ReZPahZGkbcMkO11Oydd0xOJmtnwCaEWCyg/s1600/art+quest+website+image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbysZ2NnkiMdnLuxkMFwIhnFmSyWBg6JvyFKrsRkS4ce18tmoUViYHtfkp_rbMpxkU1_y8KHbTQr4LMk80AKp_PFr_RPuNc_LIBwYLj99ReZPahZGkbcMkO11Oydd0xOJmtnwCaEWCyg/s200/art+quest+website+image.tiff" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.artquest.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.artquest.org.uk/</a>: Another networking site with loads of opportunities for residencies etc and a really useful 'frequently asked questions' page for freelance artists.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_wJPBtfXCCyDdOgOaqUKy3cPLFvaOWSkVgU84669pKu8EjN5B1-v5IRawguup-8y8m3T6-jt0_ta9p7FehlTBcFPySfgdHkIufl9qcfYR753YVFaeDvUmXziaTT9Nb9lcLQsI1X9da0/s1600/morphe+website+image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_wJPBtfXCCyDdOgOaqUKy3cPLFvaOWSkVgU84669pKu8EjN5B1-v5IRawguup-8y8m3T6-jt0_ta9p7FehlTBcFPySfgdHkIufl9qcfYR753YVFaeDvUmXziaTT9Nb9lcLQsI1X9da0/s200/morphe+website+image.tiff" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.interfaceartsgraduates.org/Interface_Arts_Graduates/Interface_Arts_Graduates.html" target="_blank">Morphe Arts</a>: For all of you graduating this summer, do sign up with Morphe Arts. It's a network of graduate Christian artists across the country seeking to support and serve one another, and build one another up as you seek to delve into the professional art world. There are monthly meetings in London and Scotland and events happening throughout the year. It's run by Ally Gordon (London) and Cully McCulloch (Scotland) - two great guys and practising artists who have tons of experience and used to work for UCCF.<br />
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Happy spinning!Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-62849126668901778092012-03-30T03:43:00.002-07:002012-03-30T03:43:37.645-07:00The Satanic Ideology of Photoshop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CoZgpJcCiPfPhJpgKUPyNDLCf80vPhroSlyjdUzMvlpna22HJlCKwZduLxfD7WECyLyeoL5ySqJuiuQwxT6kwbMIdDeMzYc-MmnPy72fdRnnqGet8m1r-gEZoM6FTC9cAIr9Lc-oHDk/s1600/Blanchett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CoZgpJcCiPfPhJpgKUPyNDLCf80vPhroSlyjdUzMvlpna22HJlCKwZduLxfD7WECyLyeoL5ySqJuiuQwxT6kwbMIdDeMzYc-MmnPy72fdRnnqGet8m1r-gEZoM6FTC9cAIr9Lc-oHDk/s320/Blanchett.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Many of us are in the business of making images and it's clear from scripture that they have great power. In the world today we are surrounded by images that whether we realise it or not are affecting the way we think about God and the way we think about ourselves. Below is a link to a great article that reminds us of the manipulative power of the image as seen in magazines and how as Chrsitians we should respond.</div>
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<a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/03/28/the-satanic-ideology-of-photoshop/" target="_blank">The Satanic Ideology of Photoshop</a>Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261208143386003506.post-69346357760607089392012-03-16T05:39:00.000-07:002012-03-16T05:39:15.556-07:00Book Review: Beyond Air Guitar by Ally Gordon, 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Marketed as "a rough guide for Christian Students and Graduates in Art, Design and the Media", Ally Gordon has provided a really helpful workbook for all of you thinking about the nature of being a Christian and an artist. From the big questions like 'What is Christian Art?' to 'How is Art worship', as well as some great chapters on what the Bible has to say about it all, this book really is super practical, helpful and insightful.<br />
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There's a great section at the end of the book as well with artists being interviewed about being a Christian in the industry, from the likes of Norman Stone to Interface graduates, as well as hands-on advice on the reality of pursuing a career in the arts after college.<br />
What excited me as I read this book was the freedom we discover in the Bible to be creators, and to enjoy pursuing being made in God's image and working for God's glory.<br />
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Ally used to do mine and Craig's job for UCCF and so a lot of the material has come out of questions you guys have been asking for the last few years! Ally now works part-time as a painter, and also for Morphe Arts (formerly known as Interface Arts Graduates). If you're graduating this coming year, do check out <a href="http://www.interfaceartsgraduates.org/Interface_Arts_Graduates/Interface_Arts_Graduates.html" target="_blank">Morphe</a> as your next port of call - it's a really valuable network of like-minded Christians in the arts.Craig & Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11236362098138412018noreply@blogger.com0