Art Cements People

The first impression from this video was amazement at the artist's skill and the simplicity of her medium. Sand on a light table... sheer genius!

As the video progressed, I was drawn into the story Kseniya Simonova wove and the response of her audience. The recognition in their eyes, the tears being wiped away as they collectively remembered a dark time in their country's history.
The entire studio audience was brought together in their understanding of her references. Ukraine shares Simonova's story line.
All of Europe can partake in the telling of this story.
Around the world, we all share in a portion of her tale- life in this fallen world is rife with pain.

Ms. Simonova's piece illustrates well how art transcends language, time and place and speaks a language common to all of humanity.

This is Your Brain on Glitter - Judges 2

Here's the result of the Shuffle I did from Monday to create a first prize tiara.

Public Service Warning: View at your own risk.

Gallery Wednesday

theme: Decay vs. The Divine




Please leave a comment if you can't watch the video for some reason.

See all of the Decay/Divine Gallery.

How is this like church?

Watch this video. It's only four and a half minutes, and really fun.

(If the image is jerky, turning off HD should help. Move your cursor to the right of the video and the blue letters that say "HD is on" will appear. Click it to turn off.)



After watching, tell me in what ways do you think this is like church?

(For more on Matt Harding and his dance check this out.)

The "Vampire Lady": Art Leads to Faith

SoulPerSuit Colossians Study

SoulPerSuit is presently hosting a group going through the book of Colossians.
Sandi shared this great clip with me last week and I think it's a great piece to share with the entire group. And the world, at large.
Be amazed by it. Be blessed by it.

Louie Giglio- Laminin (approx. 9 mins.)

TEDTalks: Jill Bolte Taylor

"We are energy beings connected to one another through the consciousness of our right hemisphere as one human family." - Jill Bolte Taylor summarizing how the right hemisphere of the brain interprets reality.

I'm just beginning to explore the TED Talks. I ran across them on a rabbit chase one day through the bloggy woods. TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design, has been around since 1984 but their videos have only been online since 2007. Their idea is to bring great thinkers and speakers in these three fields together to share what they are passionate about. The TED tag line is "Ideas Worth Spreading". I was thrilled today to start sorting through their Entertainment and Design themes and watched a juggler exploring rhythm and motion in what he calls "visual music in space".

"And as soon as my left hemisphere says to me "I am," I become separate. I become a single solid individual, separate from the energy flow around me and separate from you." - Taylor summarizing how the left hemisphere interprets our reality.

The first TEDTalk I linked to was Jill Bolte Taylor: "My stroke of insight" (link to video is below). Taylor is a neuroanatomist - she studies the brain and how it works. In all the years that she'd studied and researched, never did she learn as much as the day she experienced the shutdown of her left-brain from a stroke.

"Whoa! I'm a weird looking thing. It was if my consciousness had shifted away from my normal perception of reality where I'm the person on the [cardio] machine having the experience to some esoteric space where I'm witnessing myself having this experience." - Taylor's first observations when a blood vessel exploded in the left hemisphere of her brain.

Her talk is just under 19 minutes, a characteristic of TED talks, and it is absolutely fascinating to hear this scientist describe the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of having a stroke. And you know there's nothing more thrilling to me than hearing these worlds described as interconnected. Believe me, it's well worth your time.

MyGeek and I were in complete disagreement after watching the video. He believes it was rehashed eastern mysticism, mumbo-jumbo (he can correct me here if I'm misrepresenting him.) I was absolutely fascinated to hear this intellectual describe in human and scientific terms what her perceptions of our reality and existence are through the most complex organ we posses and understand so little about.

"Who are we? We are the life-force power of the universe with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds and we have the power to choose moment by moment who and how we want to be in the world." - Jill Bolte Taylor, "My Stroke of Insight"

You can't tell whether Taylor believes in the existence of a higher power or not but do you think that's what she's describing? Would you describe Yahweh as the "life-force of the universe"? Are we created in the image of Yahweh? And in our arrogance of intellect or of being "grown-ups", we must remember we are mere children in the eyes Yahweh. Isn't Taylor using the best of man-made terminology to describe what might possibly be the spiritual realm? What do you make of her use of the term "energy"?

Arts in the Church

What makes a successful artist? Watch this short video...

Daniel Rozin mirror art

I'd like to introduce you to the art work of Daniel Rozin. Here is an exert from his bio:
Daniel Rozin is an artist, educator and developer, working in the area of interactive digital art. As an interactive artist Rozin creates installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence and point of view of the viewer. In many cases the viewer becomes the contents of the piece and in others the viewer is invited to take an active role in the creation of the piece. Even though computers are often used in Rozin's work, they are seldom visible.

Here's a sample of his work:


He describes this piece as follows:
Peg Mirror comprises 650 circular wooden pieces that are cut on an angle. Casting shadows by twisting and rotating, wooden pegs forming concentric circles surround a small central camera. The mirrored image produced in this work is activated by software authored by Rozin that processes video signals and breaks up imagery geometrically, seemingly pixel by pixel. The silently moving wood components in this piece flicker like jewels or coins in the spotlight, challenging our notions about what constitutes a “digital object”.

When you go to his site you can access Quicktime videos of almost all his pieces. Be sure and check out Shiny Balls Mirror and Video Painting Easel. This is another great example how that technology and art, in my opinion, are one in the same. I admire this guy as an engineer and an artist.

Creative Communication

I think sarcasm, irony, and parody are totally under-utilized in Christendom. We creative types need to use them more in our communications. Consider a few examples where it works:

Sarcasm. Recently I was translating in the book of John where the religious leaders interrogate the man born blind. They don't believe Jesus healed a blind guy, so they grill his parents. But Mom and Dad insist this now-sighted man is really their son who was blind from birth. So the leaders go back to the healed man and interrogate him again. This time they say they don't know where this Jesus guy is from, but that they are descendants of Abraham (the right pedigree, dontcha know). I had to stifle a laugh when I translated the man's reply: "Well, this is a marvel. Since the beginning of time it has never happened that a man blind from birth has been healed, yet you don't know where he's from?"

Irony. I'm thinking here about the part in "The Passion of the Christ" where the guy drafted to carry the cross for Jesus complains about his image, saying he's innocent but people will think he's guilty.

Parody. This one you have to see. View this short video, but look at the second-hand on your watch before you start it. Then tell me how many seconds passed before you were laughing. I want to know how long it took you. (It took me 15 to snicker, 40 to LOL.)

Rivers and Tides

Excellence in Creativity

Take some music, add four guys a bunch of treatmills and some innovative choreography. Voila! What do you have? Some serious creativity. If you haven't already, check this out. My favorite part is when they look like they're skating. Yours?

Imitation maybe a sincere form of flattery, but it sometimes just doesn't measure up. On the other hand, sometimes the imitation even includes some improvements.

GodTube

Have you checked out GodTube? It has the potential to be the greatest tool ever OR one huge violation of intellectual property rights. While you're debating, if you haven't viewed the little girl reciting, Psalm 23 it's a must-see--especially for those of us who claim we can't memorize. (Case in point: What word comes at the end of this important phrase: It's the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold like their mother--the youngest one in ???)

500 Years of Female Portraits

My Geek sent me this cool art video. It shows 500 years of female portraits in Western art. Watch the video while looking at the eyes or the mouth only and see how they change or stay similar over time. I was surprised by how many works I didn't recognize.

What Are Your Faves?

Back in January when I was in Marfa, Texas, with a bunch of artsy types, several of my cohorts said I simply must read Twyla Tharp's bestseller, The Creative Habit. Tharp is an Emmy- and Tony-winning American dancer and choreographer (think "Hair," "White Nights," "Movin' Out"). When it comes to the subject of creativity, she's written a kickin' read. The layout is as creative as the prose.

Now, when it comes to creative writing, my fave is the 1983 edition of Writing the Natural Way.

If you want videos, the Catholic Communication Campaign's "Creativity: Touching the Divine" stands at the top of my list.

What is your favorite work(s) relating to art or creativity?

Great Resource for artists

One evening when my Oregonian mother was visiting me in Dallas, we stopped channel surfing when we saw a guy playing "the aquarium section" at a symphony performance. If you've seen Sandra Bullock's character in Miss Congeniality play the musical water glasses, you know the sort of "instrument" I'm talking about. (I have since learned that the musician, Jamey Turner, is called a "glass harpist.") Mom and I stopped and watched what turned out to be a great television program. It was the broadcast of a Catholic Communications production titled, "Creativity: Touching the Divine." We later tracked it down for purchase. Since then I have shown it every time I've taught Christian Journalism at Dallas Seminary (four or five years).

The fim explores "the universal virtue of creativity ranging from the fine arts to daily living." It was my first introduction to Frederick Hart, the sculptor responsible for the creation scene over the doors of the Washington National Cathedral, where I try to go once every holiday seaon. It also includes Madeleine L'Engle, whose book A Wrinkle in Time had a profound impact on my imagation in the sixth grade.

Have a look. If you love the marriage of faith and art, you'll find yourself savoring a feast.

Dirty Little Secret

Check out the music video by The All American Rejects called "Dirty Little Secret". Throughout the video people hold up SPS-like cards with their dirty little secrets written on them. It's really wonderful.

If you have a Yahoo! account, you can also see it here.

If you have an AOL account, you can also see it here.