aestheticism

Master @ Work

Rushkoff vs. SXSW

Douglas Rushkoff @ SXSW...

Theology After Google

The person that has unequivocally influenced me most during my seminary career has been Barry Taylor.  He recently shared his thoughts on Theology After Google at Claremont School of Theology.  I missed the conference due to finals, so I was thrilled to learn his talk was online...

  

More information can be found here.

End of An Era

Two of my favorite artists are exhibiting in New York in the next few months.  Tragically, I'm going to miss Mark Ryden's "The Gay 90's - Olde Tyme Art Show," April 29th - June 5th at the Paul Kasmin Gallery. Mark Ryden, "Incarnation" 2009 oil on panel, 72 x 48 inches

I will, however, be in town to catch Damien Hirst's "End of an Era" show at the Gagosian, showing through March 6th.  I'm finding the namesake piece, which features a decapitated "golden calf" to be particularly interesting.

  Damien Hirst, "End of an Era" 2009 Bull's head, gold, gold-plated steel, glass and formaldehyde solution with a Carrara marble plinth. 84 x 67 5/16 x  38 5/16 inches 

No Love Lost

The Wallace Collection will be hosting an exhibition of new works by one of my favorite artists, Damien Hirst.  "No Love Lost" will show 10/14/09 thru 1/24/10, and feature 25 of the artist's recent "Blue Paintings."  It's worth noting that Mr. Hirst actually painted this series himself, rather than employing a team of assistants as he is wont to do.  Like the recent Banksy show, this too is across the pond.  More info here.

The Zombification of Jane

The classic Jane Austen novel we've come to know and love, with the addition of zombies.  Not so much a retelling as it is an appending with the incorporation of a zombie sub-plot.  Is it timely?  Of course.  Will history look kindly on our postmodern tendency to remix and mashup everything?  I don't know.  Am I enjoying it?  Thoroughly. 

A Crucifix for the 21st Century

On Friday, Porterhouse Fine Art Editions will release a limited edition vinyl figurine of Mark Ryden’s, “YHWH” from the “Bunnies and Bees” exhibition from 2000.  What I love about Ryden, is that he engages theological concepts from various religious traditions, be they Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, what have you, from the “outside,” in.  That is to say, the artist claims no formal or institutional religious affiliation, yet his work belies a theological sophistication that, to my eye, offers wonder over disdain, curiosity over critique – not that critique isn’t welcomed.  Actually, I would argue that it is Ryden’s theology from the “outside” that provides a fresh lens for those of us on the “inside” who sometimes find it difficult to see the forest for the trees.

What strikes me about this piece in particular, is Ryden’s grasp of Apophatic theology.  Strains of Aphopatic theology within the Christian tradition can be traced as far back as Augustine.  This approach, known as “the negative way” or “Via Negativa,” holds that the Divine is ineffable and our experience of God can only be recognized or remembered, rather than accurately described.  What’s more, the imperfection of language and our finite ability to grasp the eternal necessitates that any attempt at describing God will ultimately prove flawed and incomplete.  To that end, practitioners would not make propositional statements about the nature of God or what God is, but rather, what God is not. 

Also worthy of noting is that in the Jewish tradition, “YHWH” is the ineffable and unutterable name of God.  In fact, for reasons of reverence, its utterance is absolutely forbidden in many Orthodox Jewish communities, even in prayer. 

So here I sit at my computer, looking an artist’s attempt to capture the uncapturable, in a painting named after the unnamable, and consider purchasing a $180.00 vinyl toy depicting that which cannot fully be known.  I look at the little girl’s bare feet, conveying the holiness of her Audience, her bent elbows and open skyward palms symbolizing reverence and worship.  I look at the unblinking maternal gazes of the tripartite ineffable, and I consider the omniscience and benevolence of an eternal First Cause.  I’ve never been one to collect religious brick-a-brack but, as I consider these things and find myself moved to tears, I realize “YHWH” is probably a good place to start.

Banksy Vs. Bristol

The Bristol Museum is currently hosting Banksy's latest exhibition. The show runs from June 13th through August 31st. Admission is free, as Banksy has funded the entire show himself. Worth a look, methinks, if you happen to be across the pond.

 

A Science of Spirituality

My friend Scott turned me on to this five-part NPR series on the scientific study of spiritual experience.   Topics include, "The God Chemical," "The Biology of Belief," and "Near-Death Experiences."  I'm far too sleepy to add my 2 cents, other than to say that I sometimes find myself of two minds about this sort of thing.  It's not that I'm concerned that such inquiry will ultimately prove or disprove the existence of a Sentient First Cause, or anything.  Besides, the inquiring mind and "academic acumen" that I am still paying Fuller Seminary for, dictates that I see how far the rabbit hole goes.  It's just that I can't help but wonder if peeking behind the wizard's curtain all the time kills my buzz.  I mean, if my brain releases more endorphins during fervent prayer, which creates feelings of calm and, consequently, an illusion of peace... do I really want to know the mechanics of that phenomenon?  Sometimes I miss magical thinking.  Anyway, the red pill can be found here...
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/2009/brain/

Garden of Earthly Delights

I imagine the afterlife to be a Holy, yet vaguely bacchanalian, Hieronymus Bosh painting meets Coachella meets Busby Berkely water musical, where we know each other's names, and there's a reasonable amount of choreographed swimming and splashing about.

Life Inc.

Not unrelated to the Adbusters Hipster post, I'm looking forward to Douglas Rushkoff's latest offering.  I've been pondering for sometime now how capitalism has affected our understanding of what it means to be human.  I anticipate Life Inc. may provide additional pieces to the puzzle.  How am I, as a spiritual being, to navigate the contours of our present day corporatocracy, wherein the primary measure of my value is my FICO score and my ability to spend?  Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like consumerism is undermining our humanity and our ability to be humane?

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

This article has been a source of conversation and contention among friends.  Has youth culture lost its soul?  Is it still punk if you can buy it at Urban Outfitters?  Does irony still function if the meanings of the original referents have been forgotten?  And are we, as a generation, so nihilistic and vapid that we'd rather go shopping than search for a cause..?  

Whatever.  These are the fruits of consumerism in this post of modern world.  

I only half-jest.  I understand that it's easy to romanticize a time, or movement, that I'm not old enough to have been a part of, and as Ken Wilber points out in Boomeritis, it is naive to think that any movement is ever wholly pure.  Some folks, be they punks, anti-war protestors, hippies, what have you, are just along for the ride, and there will always be that stage in young adult development when you just want to stick it to the man, regardless of who the man is.  Still, I can't help but feel as though these "scenes" had some basis - real or imagined - in a cause.  I suppose my question is, what's ours?  If you think I'm missing something, please, throw me a bone.  The environment, you say?  I'm not convinced.  Anti-war?  Meh.  Child labor or fair trade?  Pfffuhhh.  H&M's so cheap, how can we not shop there?  

I dunno.  Maybe it's me.  Perhaps I'm just uninspired.  Maybe all these things are cyclical, and we're just enjoying an extended adolescence, wherein all we really want to think about is being cool and styling our myspace pages.  I mean, "image is equity."  Right?