another thought

I really like the idea of this being some kind of interactive piece. One where the viewer can actually interact with. ie the example Bill used of the faces underneath the people while they walked and the added element of sound. What a powerful memorable piece. Now that, is a good concept. Just to keep our minds going, an artist I was blown away by was James Terrell. He created light installations. He uses light to create an incredible illusion of depth and also invokes a very ethereal mood. They almost look like he took Mark Rothko paintings and made them three dimensional through light. What if we could use light? Or even wind to create these?

sweet

Bill, what great thoughts and insight you bring about Ezekial. I'm affected by the way you noticed how God in the OT would be more story oriented as oppossed to just a single symbol. While I agree that perhaps this could be summed up in a single symbol, I believe that it goes deeper. The cross is extremely deep. Think about God's wrath and God's love simultaneously and yet distinctly portrayed. It seems like this is the one event where all of heaven, hell and earth were partakers of. The Jews delivered Jesus to the Gentiles and the Gentiles scourged Him and God raised Him from the dead. The Jews and Gentiles show that every human being from east to west has their hands "dirty" in the death of the Incarnate Word, the Son of God. Let's not forget the part satan and his angels played. And yet, God sent Him and orchestrated this and poured out His wrath on Jesus. There are many angles of the cross. It is not a monocromatic painting, but one of extraordinary depth and textures. Went off on a tangent, but a concept I had for the regeneration painting is to try to capture a seemingly spontaneous act which is divinely planned and ordered. As I was walking in Philly today, I was just looking at cracks in the sidewalk. On one of the stones there appeared to be what looked like a face. Nothing spectacular, but I began to ask myself how we recognize intelligence behind supposed chaos. This is actually an art project I have been wanting to tackle through the use of an experimental book. Perhaps the whole concept of regeneration could be portrayed through the pacing of multiple pages. But as I was walking I encountered a part of the sidewalk that contained a structured pattern of laid bricks. That show intelligence. Why? Repetition. Perhaps through the concept of repetitive spontaneity a painting, installation, etc could show this. Abstract concept and I probably sound crazy, but I got tickled over it. LOL I have no idea how one would show those two principles. How do you illustrate order, repetition and sponaneity all at once?
Rob

This is a good convo.

The valley of the dry bones and the word regeneration got me thinking. When I visited Berlin last semester, I went to the Jewish history museum (by the way, Berlin is amazing and Germany is great for knowing how to deal with its past). At a couple of points in the museum there were installations that were really moving. One was a room tucked away and dark and its floor was covered in metal screaming faces about the size of your hand. You were supposed to walk on it and when you did it was like the sound of chains clanking--all the faces were trying to scream but the only sound was heavy metal with every step. Thinking of the valley of dry bones, I wonder if God made a path for Ezekiel or if Ezekiel was clambering through the bones, crushing skulls perhaps--the installation in Berlin makes me think about this. There are all kinds of ideas that come out of this--hope, despair, silence, imprisonment...etc.

I think a lot of Old Testament scenes are like this. When we think about symbols for or involved with regeneration there are a lot in the NT that are like word pictures (new life, a cross, a dove) that can be summed up in an image and are either showing the occurance of regeneration or talk about an agent of regeneration. The OT tends to be more story oriented. When I was reading Ezekiel about a year ago it struck me that he's a lot like a performance artist sometimes--God makes him lay down a certain way to illustrate a point to the Israelites, makes him walk through a hole in the wall every day or something like that. One way to be able to talk about our work on regeneration is to think of our works (which are naturally limited--although explosions engage a lot of the senses but still limited in time) as elements and subjects of stories, not just the story of Jesus saving the world but the stories within that story--Ezekiel going out of Jerusalem through a hole in the wall showed how God was angered and wanted to leave the Israelites because of their idolatry. I think we tend to want to sum the whole thing up in one symbol like the cross, but we should be satisfied with taking parts of it all--art builds our lexicon of the gospel by fleshing out the story in just a little bit more detail than what we told it to ourselves the first time. Like one rainfall doesn't make a huge difference to the growth of a redwood tree but it does matter and does make the tree grow.

Sorry for the overload, but this is a great conversation. I'll try and get more details on Ezekiel that I thought of and on John which I've been reading lately.

hmmm breath

Im glad to see that were gettin some real biblical SUBSTANCE to go along with our ideas. one verse that was posted talked about Gods breath. i like that. that God BREATHES life into us at regeneration. another image that has been in my head is a dandylion. they grow fast (almost in a moment) thier not very pretty flowers, not scented or big or colorful, thier a humble little weed flower, wich i think relates alot to us as imperfect cristians, but hte part i like the best is that dandylions spread. wind blows thier seeds everywhere, and its like us, when God gives us life, we dont just sit and stagnate, but were supposed to spread the joy and love that God gave to us. Gods spirit blows us to others just like the wind blows dandylion seeds to make more and more dandylions
so im starting a smaller painting (along with my other one) thats going to be of a dandylion. its a bit cold so there arent any dandylions out side yet, so i may just work from some pictures or somthing

ps. glad to see all the new comers, better late than never

response to alison

wow. I love the whole concept idea of the bones and wind. hmmmmmAlison, I'm impressed, you got tremendous amounts of Scripture going on up there.

thoughts.

I seem to keep coming back to Ezekiel 37 (the valley of dry bones). It is such a powerful story, not to mention incredible imagery. I keep picturing something with bones, in Ezekiel's account he describes being led among a valley full of bones, I picture piles of them... he says "there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry." and the Lord says, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord...thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live..." power. glory. regeneration...

"Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live..." (I really appreciated the bit Rob mentioned about wind and the movement of the Spirit.) How do you visually convey a glimpse of something that is an invisible mystery?

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, HE SAVED US, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life!!!" (Titus 3:4-7)

Also thinking about how regeneration is God's activity, his initiative, accomplished by his power and strength.....and mercy...very dry, dead bones are pretty powerless!!

"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!"
(psalm 90:17)

In response to Rob

Hi Rob, glad you made it. Good thoughts re: regeneration.

The one-time event thing is pretty crazy. A dramatic change. entirely new being/life, even.

and ya, i like yr ideas about concept dictating image too. its a good challenge to be willing to entirely reconsider your approach each time. But could you consider each artist's approach their own language? I mean, you gotta talk in the style and with the background that you have. I can't speak from a surgeon's point of view, or a sculptor's. But I can speak from the vantage point of a figurative draw-er and painter.

There's so much for me to learn, too, about being a better communicator within figurative art that I'm not eager to move on. I could spend a life time on this language alone.

what do you guys think?

regeneration and thoughts

hey all. latecomer in this whole process. I love the idea of working and being able to throw ideas around with all of you. a thought I had about regeneration is this.
regeneration is a once and for all process. Just like you don't know where the wind comes from or where it blows, so are they that are born of the Spirit. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit through Mary. What's interesting about regeneration is that though it is one time event, it was planned and executed by GOD in eternity past, outside of time, but then He intervenes in a specific 'point' or moment in time to create new life in a dead, helpless sinner. Regeneration always leads to sanctification. If the tree has been made good, it will bear good fruit. I have no real ideas on how to translate my words into visuals yet, but I have always created my best work by writing any and everything related and even non related to the subject down. I look forward to talking with everyone and hearing from your different views. I think that in art or especially in what I do, graphic design, the style should be dictated by the concept. Not the other way around. There is a parallel between this and The Bible. I need to conform my life to His word, not the other way around. Just some thoughts, if they help, great, if not, my bad.
Rob

a new Na

Hey I just went to an Na meeting today re: stage design. I want you guys to know that this is going to be a different kind of New Attitude. I won't give away all the secrets, but imagine a design team tackling all the aesthetics based on the concepts of the conference. (novel idea) Eric Simmons is bringing his great leadership, reminding us that creativity at Na is a means to care for people (hospitality) and to point to the messages. We're not conference professionals, but we're pretty giddy about some pretty great ideas that are yet to be unleashed. did you like savethewheel? the same crazy kids who hatched that idea are planning the conference.

So how many of these new attitudes have you guys been to? Personally, I've been to them all (6). I know, that makes me old, and Neal was still in diapers, okay, I mean middle school.

Our Timeline

Hey friends, here's some dates to keep in mind, as mentioned in the second letter I sent you.

January 06
+ Begin blog discussion
+ Begin art making
+ Connie visits Philly Jan 27-29
February 06
+ Art making
March 06
+ Art making
+ end of march: Projection survey sent out: what major pieces do you intend to finish by Easter?
April 06
+ Finishing art making by Easter, April 16
+ Decision on major pieces –show curated by Eric & Na team
+ Collect & transport to Maryland, end of April
May 06
+ Secure artwork for shipment to Louisville
+ Transport artwork to Louisville
+ Na 06, May 27-30
+ Opening Reception, TBD

title? what's a title? untitled...

Hey folks, I've not been on the site for a bit so it's nice to see there's some more participants!!

I haven't started anything tangible yet; this is a bit of a challenge for me because recently I've been beginning with the aesthetics/form of a piece and the meaning comes second or simultaneously... so it's different for me to work from a concrete image/message/idea and then execute it. I don't want to make art that is cliche, annoyingly blatant, or contrived; but on the other hand I don't want to be so vague that I never really say anything. I guess I agree with Duke Ellington when he said, "The artist must say it without saying it."

Also I feel I need to clarify (Bill), that I'm not planning on making anything literally explode; I was thinking more of the general feeling or sense of exploding.... we'll see.

Also somebody mentioned literary references dealing with such topics, pieces of poetry etc perhaps? Unfortunately nothing comes to my mind presently but again wanted to call out in case anyone else knows of something... I'll try to look into this...

Anyway this is exciting, even if I have nothing on paper or in space yet. I like this blog thing. And Melissa, I think your idea for the dress sounds great ;)

talking process & mine

Its hard to know how much or how little to talk about artwork in process. You know how it is. If you say all the words about your idea, why paint it. cause sometimes talking it all the way through can take away from the viewer's experience of discovering the concept inherent in the images. know what i mean? like those kids you used to know in art school that were all talk and no work.

well, i sketched through some ideas last night (art night) for Regeneration. I have two main inspirations that I'm working from. Concept wise, I'm considering the defibrillator. Image wise, I'm challenged by the paintings coming out of Indiana's MFA program. They're complex narratives of multi-figures in domestic interiors. (A painter friend I went to college with went on to school there. Check out his work: James Lipovac.) I love the combo of still life, interior, and multifigure in relatively deep space. its more ambitious than i worked for several years, so please, push me till i show my stuff. even if all i produce is an awkward mess. {teaching is good, because after you say words of advice about not being afraid of failure, you gotta back them up with action}

okay friends, who else is making stuff out there?

Correction

sorry--www.iamny.org

Good Links

Heres a couple of links that provide food for thought.
www.iamny.com involves a group of artists in nyc. I have heard a couple of them speak and they are very articulate, helpful and stimulating. One of the leaders (Mako Fujimura) had his pic in one of those old sovereign grace magazines.
www.daytonc.blogspot.com Dayton is an awesome guy (Alison can attest too). He leads college art groups in philly basically and is an artist himself and is very passionate about serving God in art. He spoke at our campus crusade meeting at Tyler last night and did a great job. He knows a lot of good stuff to read. Plus, he leads a thing called Dialogue (where I've heard IAMNY folks) which serves us artists here in philly real well. Dialogue meets in a place where there are artists studios and it is a seriously good community (maybe you'd be able to stop in there connie, when you come up).

I have been reworking in my mind the concept I originally had, I want to have something that shows the death of the "old man" and the beginning growth of the "new man" to go with a concept Paul talks about in Romans (I think, I need to relook it up)
and I've been checking out drawn.ca (an illustration blog) and lots of artist seem to do robots, and I don't like doing things that have been done already a lot, so I may try to think of something new,
in other news
I have begun priming my canvas here's a pic
this also shows my workspace (which doubles as the floor in my room)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm the possibilities
-jeff

Melissa's Survey

1. i am melissa choi. everyone already knows me, but if you forgot, i am studying Fashion design.
2. i would like to make a 3-d piece, a dress?
3. my idea is to use napkins for most of the dress. starting with brown napkins at the bottom, it slowly fades to white. each napkin will be torn into strips- a technique for making fancy dresses in chiffon. and then underneath at the bodice will be green coming through, i'm not sure what will be the material. something small i hope that i can use in repetition( any ideas?). the concept is that it is dead (brown), and slowly turning into something beautiful (white). something new is growing out of it (green). the material itself symbolizes that beauty can be made of something thought of as trash and ordinary, something that we use everyday, insignificant that we use once and throw away.
[melissa, too, is having a hard time figurig out how to post. So Alison and Neal, you are in good company.]

Concept stage

Been talking with some friends about the design process, with emphasis on the concept stage. If the artist starts with a good conceptual foundation, the aesthetic decisions later should be more meaningful and hopefully more succcessful.


At this stage of my Na artwork, I'm thinking through the concept and symbols. I brainstormed this list with Neal (and some random Martins) a week or so ago. From it, I think I'll pursue a specific text or story to work from. So if anybody has any literary connection ideas for Regenration, let me know.




Then over the weekend I went to good ole Systematic Theology to make sure I really know what Regeneration is. Here's some notes. Grudem makes some sweet comments about "the seed" in 1John 3:9. Anyways, let us know if you guys read any other good articles or excerpts that might help inform the group.


Oh, and in case you're wondering where the theme came from, it was inspired by Mike Bullmore's message "The Functional Centrality of the Gospel" given at the small group ldr conf. & lrdship conf. In it, he speaks of having a lexicon of the Gospel and on a side note mentions that we could benefit from giving attention to the doctrine of regeneration and new life. So ya, we're taking his advice. (and he might be giving some form of that message at Na)

The canvas

So yesterday I made my canvas, but since I used scrap trim wood and the angles weren't really cut great, it warped when I stretched the canvas over it, so I have heavy stuff stacked on it and I wood glued the edges so hopefully after it dries for a while it'll be ready to rock
what size does everyone else like to work in?

Bill's Survey

I finally figured out how to post!

Heres my survey:
1. I am Bill Melone, from manheim PA in the lancaster area, but I'm a member of Covenant fellowship because I go to tyler school of art in philly
2. Hopefully some big paintings, we'll see what happens
3. Visual ideas that I've used already are the symbols that photo and drawing are. Alison, please please please make something explode.
4. no website
5. I got engaged last week! Heres my fiance's website-- www.julia-davis.com. She'll have to change that site name soon...
That was a good quote from alison of schaeffer. Discussing biblical art is something I'm definitely into. I'll try finding some good stuff to post online.

growth bot

hey guys, im jeff (for those who dont know)
im a student at the school of art and design in silver spring
and im an intern graphic designer 4 matt whal @ sov grace
the piece im thinking about will be painting and maybe a robot laying on the ground kinda rusty with its chest piece opened up and little green plants are growing out of him, i dunno, do you guys think itll be stupid
im trying to make the canvas today it will be 3x3 feet