Art

That title seems both painfully presumptuous and distastefully bland--as though I would have anything at all worthwhile to say on this topic, or as though I thought it a boring topic, unworthy of the effort of crafting an interesting title.  The fact of the matter is that the curriculum committee that I am a part of is working on this area of curriculum development and I'm spending a lot of time thinking about art.

In the committee work, the first part of the process involves developing a philosophy statement, but those of us who are working on this are not trained philosophers, and although all of us have college degrees, we are unanimous in feeling under-equipped for this task.  So we're doing what we all know is necessary in such cases, praying a lot and reaching out for resources outside our committee.  Right now we're individually reading the book Art in Action by Nicholas Wolterstorff.  Although a blurb on the cover assures us that it is "remarkably clear and entertaining" I find reading it a tough slog.

Developing a vocabulary is the first order of business in reading Art and Action, so I am learning about culture-avoiders and aesthetic conservatives, reconsideration and theological interpretation, a functional approach, objects of action and instruments of action, causal generation and count generation,  non-idiosyncratic normalities, abstractive contemplation, expropriation, avant-garde art, immensity of repertoire, high art, critic/evaluator.  I've only read to page 35 so far, and really haven't hit the "remarkably clear and entertaining" part yet.  I do understand general ideas suggested by the above terms, but this author does what many writers must do when they treat a subject in depth.  They must use a vocabulary specific to their topic and they take great pains to define their language as narrowly as needed to serve their purpose.

The author of Art in Action uses the words of Dorothy Sayers to describe his purpose for writing:  " . . . to relate my 'aesthetic to the central Christian dogmas.'"  Our committee has a similar goal, with the application being an effective expression of it in our Pilgrim School curriculum.

My personal list of questions going into this study of art is no doubt different than the lists of others on the committee, and will probably seem remarkably elementary to those who have given more thought to this topic than I have.  Posting them here is a crowd-sourcing effort.  In other words, I'd like help from  my readers--both in any perspectives you're willing to share and in your recommendations for resources.

1.  What is the difference between arts and crafts?

2.  Is there equal justification for arts and crafts in a Christian elementary and high school?

3.  What all is included in art?  Walsterstorff lists eight categories:  visual depiction, sculpture, music, poetry, literary fiction, drama, dance, and film.  He acknowledges that others such as architecture are sometimes added, but he believes that currently the eight constitute a widely agreed upon list.

4.  Is there equal justification for every one of the eight categories in our schools and in our life?  Just yesterday I listened again to the first TED talk I ever heard, and was surprised that it included as much on art as it did.  Here's the link.  Put on your British ears and enjoy the 20-minute talk.  Robinson says that in our schools an arts hierarchy exists, with some of the arts almost never included. I can't imagine broad support for all of the arts having equal emphasis at Pilgrim, and I'm trying to decide if I feel OK about that.

5.  When does appreciation of art cross over into hedonism?  Is it a problem if it does?

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Yesterday evening  Hiromi and I attended a Community Concert for a performance by the Sons of Serendip, a group of young men who had met a number of years ago when each was a graduate student at Boston University.  The concert was a real listening pleasure, even though, as usually happens, the music that others found familiar was not familiar to me. Not watching TV or movies or listening to the radio has that effect.  Very few of the songs had Christian content, but somehow the performance exuded a pervasive wholesomeness. Instrumentalists for a cello, harp, and keyboard accompanied a single vocalist with an amazing versatile voice.

The vocalist did all the talking for the group.  He was engaging, with just the right mix of warmth, humility, genuineness, gratitude, humor, and delight in the moment.  His graduate degree was in theology, and he had worked as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher.  The keyboardist was a lawyer, the cellist taught cello, and the harpist was a middle school teacher almost tall enough to be a basketball player.  They had a delightful mix of honest-to-goodness careers beyond music.  All of the performers were African American, with the exception of one who had a Latino-sounding name.

Hints of spirituality appeared in the concert flier.  One of the musicians chose to attend Boston University after he awoke one morning with a sunbeam on his face and heard a peaceful voice uttering the school's name.  This followed an evening of prayer about the matter.  On one of their online videos, one image appears to be the group praying together.  They are standing with bowed heads, arms across their neighbor's shoulders. These hints lead me to suspect that this is a Christian group, although their music is not overtly Christian.

Maybe after a good night's sleep I'll be able to articulate what is right about excellent art by Christians even if they do not articulate a Christian message in their work. I'd love to have readers beat me to it.