One way to
think about art is to understand it as an attempt to use human creativity to
help us see life and reality with greater clarity. Which is why setting aside
time for unhurried visits to art museums and galleries is so essential to
growth towards maturity. All the elements that come together in the visual
arts—color, form, line, shape, depth, composition, light—are reflections on
aspects of creation that somehow reflect the goodness of the Creator who called
them into being as good gifts for his creatures. Just as God is the final
source of Truth so is he the ultimate spring of Glory, and believing one is
more essential than the other is to place our preferences over his revelation
of himself. God’s revelation of truth is glorious, and his glory is true, world
without end.
Just as
some aspects of truth are difficult to capture with words and arguments, some
aspects of life and reality are so difficult to capture in art as to seem
impossible: the flow of time, air, water; things that are real yet transient
and ephemeral; living shapes in inanimate materials. Enter Andy Goldsworthy, an
artist who lives in Scotland and whose work is lovingly embedded in nature even
when it appears in urban settings.
It is never
easy to describe art in words. “Writing about art,” comedian, actor and painter
Martin Mull noted, “is like dancing about architecture.” You can do it, and it
can even be full of insight but the best plan is to simply receive the art
itself. And if it difficult to write about art in general, the problem is
compounded when talking about Goldsworthy’s art because often he is interested
in capturing something that is natural.
One good
way to approach Goldsworthy’s work is in Rivers
and Tides, a documentary film that simply follows the artist so we can
watch him create and listen to him reflect on what he is doing. It also allows
us a lovely glimpse into the creative process, at least as Goldsworthy
experiences it, that is both accessible to non-visual artists as well as a fine
study, for Christian viewers, of what it means to demonstrate one essential
aspect of being made in the image of God.
Goldsworthy
makes his living by commissions, teaching, and by photographing his most
ephemeral works to allow us to see them when they are too remote and too
temporary for viewers to experience. The fact that he uses such simple,
ordinary materials to produce such stunning pieces of art, and that his
appreciation for nature is so unpretentious and tender is enough to render me
speechless and grateful.
I recommend
Rivers and Tides to you
Rivers and Tides: Andy
Goldsworthy Working with Time, directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer (2001, 90
minutes). Available on DVD and on YouTube.
I received this from a friend who happens to be a seminary professor. Wise words.
To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine...
And those who don't.
As Ben Franklin said:
In wine there is wisdom,
In beer there is freedom,
In water there is bacteria.
In a number of carefully controlled trials,
Scientists have demonstrated that if we drink
1 liter of water each day,
At the end of the year we would have absorbed
More than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. Coli) - bacteria
Found in feces.
In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop..
However,
We do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer
(or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor)
Because alcohol has to go through a purification process
Of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember:
Water = Poop,
Wine = Health.
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid,
Than to drink water and be full of shit.
There is no need to thank me for this valuable information:I'm doing it as a public service!