#readingresponsepost

🔍Thoughts on Imagine (p. 17-30)

I’m really excited to read more out of this book. I’m very curious to understand more about how Christians should incorporate their faith in their work in a way that accurately represents their worldview and still engages with the culture. Steve Turner’s observations about how “Christian art” is viewed by the world really resonated with me. I’ve definitely noticed how “Christian art” seems to be limited to the narrow Christian subculture, and doesn’t have much effect on the overall culture (18, 20-21). (That needs to change!) I’ve also noticed the general lack of role models when it comes to well-known Christian artists––thus leading to the implication that Christians can’t create good, relevant art, and/or that it is wrong of them to try (22). (Though I must say, I know of dozens of good Christian songwriters and singers. I think today’s Christian artists are getting better about crafting music in a way that non-Christians can engage with.) As far as the rest of the Christian artist population goes, I want to see us joining in the discussion that our pop culture is initiating.

I agree with Turner when he says that he doesn’t think art should be made to convert people (29). I feel like I can respect Christian songs, literature, movies, etc. more when they aren’t trying to force-feed people Christianity, if that makes sense. I love artwork produced by Christians that start discussions and challenge ideas by subtly planting seeds of ideas and thoughts in people’s minds. That’s the kind of art I want to produce, something that makes people pause and see the world in a different light. I want to see Christian artists sharing their views through their art, but still being respected by the culture for their integrity, character, and excellent work. I don’t like this hiding in the Christian corner thing, having no impact on the world. I think God made artists to create, and that our identity as Christians should permeate our lives and alter our work, setting us apart. But I also think that can be more challenging to do through fine art and image-related art than it is through writing and music.

🔍Thoughts on Emerge (p. 9-18)

First of all, the fourth introduction made me laugh. I love Don Perini’s sense of humor.

I’m eager to read more to discover how to live a creative life. Pereni claims that creativity “takes discipline and hard work,” and that it’s not a “genie in a bottle.” He also says that it takes “determination, process, and good habits to come up with great results.” I think both of these are accurate. I could totally relate with his description of his awkward board meetings where his colleagues expected him to produce creative solutions instantly. I’ve never been to a board meeting, but school has offered me enough experience to know that creative solutions aren’t always instantaneous. I can also understand how good, creative results––ultimately a creative life––requires determination, discipline, and hard work. It’s not always easy to summon inspiration or practice creative skills. It takes hard work! I’m eager to see how Perini incorporates Christianity in the process of leading a creative life. I’m really hoping both Imagine and Emerge change me as an artist and broaden my understanding of what it means to be a Christian artist.

🔍Thoughts on Liu Xiaodong’s interview

The explicit subject matter in some of Lui’s work leads me to believe that he is not a Christian, so it’s interesting to hear his view of Jesus. He finds Jesus to be the ultimate role model for artists, because Jesus “transcends himself.” Liu believes that one of the roles of an artist is to help others transcend themselves through art. To be honest, I’m not sure what he means exactly, and I’d love to discuss his views further. 

Liu also believes that artists have the unique ability to break national boundaries. Artists maintain a kind of innocence, because all they can do is imagine and show others their unique views through their work. I kind of like this view of artists, because it centers on the fact that art, like music, is universal, despite language barriers and political differences.  

📷Image Above:

Week 14 Reading Reflection Post 

Out of all the assigned content this week the  art assignment video “ love the art, hate the artist” was  my favorite. This is something that I have thought about quite often before watching this video. Some of my favorite  music artists are not the best people and I have always struggled with being able to support their music as much as I love their songs. The reason for this is because when people ask me why I would support that Artist as a Christian I do not have an answer. Although as  humans we all fall short of the glory of God and we as Christians are not called to judge others however it gets to this gray area where it is okay too knowingly be supporting someone who is not living a Christian lifestyle. At the end of the day I think it is up to you to decide whether you can support the artist regardless of who they are and solely based on their music. 

This is a picture I took at a beach by my house that I went to work on homework at. 

This week’s reading contained many different ideas that we haven’t exactly discussed before, and society tends to shy away from discussing as well. First, in the video that we watched, the speaker focused on discussing the actions of artists, and how that may affect how people view their art. While watching this video, the artist that came to mind was Chris Brown. In the early 2000s and 2010s, he was an amazing singer and dancer, however, I somewhat tanked his career after he physically abused his girlfriend at the time, Rihanna. Now, it is very hard for me to support him as an artist and his art knowing the type of person he is behind the scenes. The speaker of this video brought up a great point about how we must be aware of what we are revealing to ourselves, and how the things that we are consuming may affect us and those around us. Specifically, if someone is consuming art that someone else may consider racist, sexist, or offensive, and then they go around talking about this art to all people, you may not realize how you are negatively impacting people, just because you may not share the same perspective as them. This video made me realize that I do have a hard time separating the art from the artist, because to me, supporting the art, or paying for a song or to see a movie of an artist or actor that I don’t like, is simply supporting them and putting money straight into their pockets, which I sometimes just can’t bring myself to do. As a Christian, we also should have morals regarding certain things and should always be aware of the things we are consuming and how they may be affecting our mindset or if they are pulling us away from God.

For this week’s reading, we first read “Art as a Twenty-First Century Calling”. In this article, the author focused on how some Christian artists tend to wear two different pairs of worldview “spectacles”. When discussing this, the author talked about how a lot of Christians are Christian in church, but then are just artists in their art space. The more I thought about this, the more I realized how many Christians fall into this “stereotype”. Because we go to a Christian school, it is much easier to see when someone has an alter-ego of sorts, who they are in the Christian class, chapel, and then who they are with their friends. As I think about this, I also have to take a look at how I fit into this description. Throughout high school and now college, I struggle at times with staying consistent with being the same person in church and in school where I’m around my friends. It is sometimes too easy to fall into the ways of the world, especially depending on the people I am surrounded by. Some other points that I loved from the reading this week were things such as how abstract art really isn’t a puzzle, even though I am still working on seeing it that way since I haven’t taken the time to really appreciate and understand that form of art. Also, in “How to Look at Abstract Art”, I specifically loved the quote “An artwork is not about an idea, it is an idea”. This specific quote has really stuck with me the last few days. I love the idea that art is completely in and of itself its OWN thing. It is not based on anything or a piece of anything else except what the artist wants it to be a part of.

This week’s reading from Imagine brought up ideas such as how we are in the times that we are in, and the question of what the difference is between Christian art and art made by Chrisitans. First, the author discussed how artists are typically ahead of their time, or maybe everyone else just isn’t at the same point as them. Then, I really reflected on what I believe the difference is between Christian art and the art that Christians make. As a Chrisitan, this question caused me to look at my own life and truly reflect on the art that I make. As a singer, I love to sing many different genres of music, not just Christian music. However, I have pure intentions with every song that I sing. Therefore, I believe that this difference is found in the artist’s intentions with their art and their personal meaning behind their work. Also, ‘Christian’ art tends to be less of a fan favorite in today’s society as well, which may push more Christian artists towards making other kinds of art so they are able to make a living or portray their art in a different setting. This is a great example of how Christians tend to fall in the ways of the world, rather than being not of this world. Next, in the Manifesto Art Project by Julian Rosefeldt, I really struggled to get into the videos because I simply didn’t understand them. I found these videos very interesting, yet I wasn’t quite sure how it contributed to her overall themes. Each of these videos had similar parts, yet they were all so different and I wasn’t quite sure what her main ideas were in each one.

This week’s reading really resonated with me. First, the chapter “Truth” was something that I really needed to hear. The scripts that this chapter talked about are something that has been a big part of my life, but I didn’t realize it until reading this chapter. I am definitely guilty of constantly making excuses for myself and for others. However, I think it took until reading this chapter for me to realize that those “truths” really are lies that I am just telling myself over and over again. The next chapter, “Usefulness”, was a blow to the chest haha! Being a lukewarm Christian is one of my biggest fears, yet those periods are inevitable at times, and are completely up to me to keep myself out of. The author’s points about technology pulling us away from God was an extremely good point. This world revolves around technology, and now in the world we are currently living in, technology is our entire world. It is how we stay connected and are able to get things done. However, this era of technology and entertainment truly does have an impact on all relationships, especially my relationship with God. It has become too easy to find other things to do and get distracted enough to not spend time with God, and it is too easy to make excuses for those things. Technology and social media is truly warping our ideas of how we should be acting with other people and with ourselves. I need to really take the time to get better at prioritizing my time (haha take the time!), and I need to start working on that now. Time is important and we cannot get it back, so this chapter was a great reminder that I need to be efficient and really take the time to put effort into what I want to be apart of and make a bigger part of my life.

I picked this gif as my illustration for this weeks reading response post. The title of the article we read was art in the 21st century and I feel as though this picture greatly depicts what art has looked like over the last year.

Bittersweet moment as this was our last assigned reading, thus the last response post for this class. We ended with some interesting, yet pretty eye opening readings. This weeks readings consisted of an article reading titled, "Art As a Twenty-first Century Calling." This was focused around Christian artists who need to stay to date with the times if they want to have an impact on society. Secondly, we also were assigned to read an essay written by Joe Lloyd that was titled, "How To Look At Abstract Art." As written in my discussion post, this essay was a very interesting, yet eye opening read. Being completely honest, I was not a fan of the first reading because it had some similarities to previous readings, but also I just did not feel I connected to this reading let alone the author. I did however enjoy Lloyd's essay, not because it was a pleasureful reading but rather because it was captivating in the sense where it brought up some points that made me open my eyes to a different view on abstract art. I think it is so easy to dislike abstract art because not always is appealing to the eye and difficult to understand, however Lloyd addresses that just because it is a different way of artwork doesn't mean it should be viewed any differently than any "regular" artworks. This certainly opened my eyes and made me go into some reflection. It is true, although its different does not mean it is any less than. Overall, did enjoy the essay reading the most because it brought new perspective on this topic!