Andre Gide
This portion of the book reminded me of Art & the Beauty of God by Richard Harries. I read this book for Philosophy of art with Mark-Harrison McLeod last semester, and it was really eye opening! One of the quotes from the book that intrigued me was the following:
"Human beings, made in the image of God, share in the divine creativity. We also have the capacity for creative, beautiful ordering. In particular, artists of every kind share in the work of the divine artist by giving form to recalcitrant matter. The make music of inchoate sounds and speech of incoherent babble. They give shape to the shapeless and in so doing reflect the work of eternal wisdom." (Harries 102)
"Human beings, made in the image of God, share in the divine creativity. We also have the capacity for creative, beautiful ordering. In particular, artists of every kind share in the work of the divine artist by giving form to recalcitrant matter. The make music of inchoate sounds and speech of incoherent babble. They give shape to the shapeless and in so doing reflect the work of eternal wisdom." (Harries 102)
The quotes that really stuck out to me from the chapter in G&N:
“You have to find
what you must obey, artistically; and finding it is finding that which exists
in relation to more than your will and purpose- finding the depth of
alternative embodiment in the seen landscape, the depth of gratuitous capacity
in the imagined character (when what you want to imagine will not come) and so
on.” (Williams 147)
We discussed this quote at length in class. We were asked
three questions in relation to the quote:
What must you obey
artistically?
- I must obey my desire for storytelling. Although I am
capable and qualified to take photographs for purely aesthetic purposes,
stories give me life. I want for my soul to be moved and to move the soul of
others. I want to speak of brokenness and healing, shame and vulnerability.
What do you find
necessary to function as an artist?
- I need for others to support and affirm my vision, or at
least understand what I am trying to do, regardless of liking it or not. When I
don’t get this affirmation, I get discouraged. No matter how awesome I think an
idea is, if there is no affirmation, I struggle. I don’t want for people to
just think that my work is “pretty”, I want for it to move them somehow.
What are things that
are fuel for your work (spark your imagination)?
- One of the things that fuel my work are the stories of
struggle that I encounter, whether it be my own or that of loved ones. I often
tend to work from a place of lacking. We lack vulnerability, so I make art
showing that lack. We have fears, which I showcase by conceptualizing my
biggest fears. Most of my concepts showcase the lacking/broken which will
hopefully inspire change.
“But truthfulness unfolds- it doesn't happen all at once- and makes possible different levels of appropriating or sharing in the activity that is the world.” (Williams 137)
- I think this quote is so profound. Truth unfolds-
experiences unfold, stories unfold, life unfolds. And because it unfolds, we
can truly experience life at its fullest. We are able to walk through it gently
and dance through it softly. We have the time to get to know ourselves and
those around us. But most importantly, we get to commune beautifully with the
Creator. Thank God that life unfolds!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete