What is Art Part 2 - Entering Art with Worldview

This is Part 2 of the 3 part series on Art. If you missed the first part, go read it here. Stay tuned for the third part! Part 1 left off mentioning excellence in art. That is where we shall pick it up today.

Yes, that’s a good word for Art: excellence. Art is something well-made: all the way from a quality film to a handmade chair or birdhouse. Art is hard work: it is not something slapped together in 5 minutes. I know this from personal experience: writing for 10 hours at a time is physically draining. Especially as Christian Artists we are called to do good work, just like a carpenter or a doctor. Colossians 3:23 says, we work to honor God. We are called to a high standard, but we Christians often think of Art as something we make to proselytise. The Christian Imagination discusses how Art differs from propaganda. Now, excellence doesn’t mean perfection. Flipped Justice isn’t the highest quality film ever, but it’s amazing the ingenious use of what was available. A kid’s colouring-picture isn’t high quality, but there’s something amazing about it that makes it Art.

Another obvious criteria is that Art tells a story. We were created with a deep longing for Story. Stories speak to us in a way that nothing else can. Why? Because everything is part of a Story. Everything you see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and touch; everything you remember, think, and imagine; everything is part of the Story. Art allows us a window into God’s Story. Written-art is an obvious example, but movies, music, even painting and photography tell a story, too. All stories hold Truth, because every story points to the Story. Yet not every story is Truthful, as in Realistic. Especially as Believers, since we know Reality, we strive to tell Real stories.

Reality in Art is an important topic discussed in The Christian Imagination. This Reality is not the same as “realistic fiction” vs. fantasy or realistic vs. abstract visual Art. Reality is the Truth of God’s Story. Is it realistic for a character to make a choice without consequences? Is it realistic to treat women as objects. No! A real story tells of Longing, Brokenness, and Fix, though not always in equal proportion. These themes are so important they are built into plot-lines as exposition, conflict, and resolution. True stories realise that humanity was created for something else: we Long for life to work out. But something is most definitely Broken. Many stories stop here, but True stories offer an answer to the messiness of life. It may not be a explicit and preachy (as I explained in Part 1), but every good story offers some sort of Redemption. Just think of Les Mis or Lord of the Rings. These stories are Epic. In these stories, something is dreadfully wrong, and there is a Longing for life to work. Yet, there is Redemption. Maybe not a happily-ever-after ending with no cost, but they tell the Truth that there is something worth living for.

Art is imaginative: this seems self-explanatory. Imagination has to do with mind-pictures (images). As Leland Ryken explains in his more recent book Words of Delight: a Literary Introduction to the Bible, imagination is the ability to imagine real things. Fiction takes a lot of imagination, but nonfiction does equally so. As you read this essay, I am creating an image in your mind: it takes imagination to link ideas, to “see” how they fit together. Even un-real fiction can be a window into the Ultimate Reality of God’s Story.

As we think about good stories, we realise there is something beautiful about Art; that is nearly universally agreed upon. Oftentimes, Art is pleasant and desirable, but not always. Art has to deal with ugly things. Why? Because there is Brokenness in the world. If Art ignored Brokenness, it would not be a True picture of Reality. If Art were purely flowery beauty without any substance, it would be worthless. But the beauty of Art draws us in and makes it coherent. There is beauty in dealing well with evil. I often wonder if I create beautiful Art. I think of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction as beautiful, but I have a hard time thinking of this essay as beautiful. It’s cold hard thoughts strung together in a semi-coherent rant. Is there beauty in this? You be the judge.

How, then, do we deal with Broken things, like “bad words” and perverted sex and death in Art we create? One essay in The Christian Imagination explained how we must engage evil in Art with a solid worldview (Longing, Broken, Fix). Not every piece of Art must be rated G and intended for children. Reality isn’t G! How do we deal with the Holocaust? We can’t ignore it, yet it must be engaged well. The same thing applies to “bad words”: even strong language has it’s place (this does not include taking God’s name in vain). Because we make words meaningless, sometimes only a strong word will adequately express emotion. But to spout words like this without purpose is worthless. We can’t deal with Brokenness in our Art without offering Redemption.

What about evil in the Art we consume created by unbelievers? As I said before, we must be discerning. In the modern Church, we often think discernment means avoiding questionable things, while in reality, discernment means examining what we consume. Obviously, it’s stupid to fill ourselves with junk, but when we have a strong lens (worldview) through which to examine it, we can enter questionable stuff and process through. We must allow Art to change us, and at the same time stand firmly on our own beliefs. In fact, we need to be discerning even with Christian Art--sometimes more so--because while we may think it agrees with our worldview, there are false teachers, and just plain bad theology marketed as Truth. Passively consuming without reflecting on the story it’s telling me and how it affects me is dangerous.

I used to watch NCIS with my parents and sister every week. The show has some “bad stuff”, and I don’t always agree with its worldview, but watching it with my parents opened up opportunities for discussion. I can enjoy God through enjoying something as “unchristian” as an episode of Sherlock. God can use even imperfect Art as a step-stool for worship--as if any Art is perfect. I am a fan of Mumford and Sons, even though a few of their songs have a “bad word”. I’m not saying lyrics don’t affect us. In fact, we must up our guard when enjoying good Art, because lies can sneak in more easily with good Art. Discover, Discern, Decide. Everything may be permissible, but not everything is beneficial (1 Cor. 6:12). We must engage Art from a good worldview. And part of engaging Art is creating it.

As I will talk about in Part 3, God has called His followers to create good art. Art is a high standard, and good Art is even higher. Not only that, but we must create good Art because good Art is a better witness than bad Art. Instead of bemoaning the lack of good Art out there, God has given each of us unique skills and abilities to create. For some of us, that may be the typical Art forms, from playwriting to sculpting. For others of us without “artsy” talents, God can use us to work in banks creating spreadsheets, or as doctors healing people. Are you living a bigger Story? Does the story of your life point your friends and neighbors to Truth? Each of us is a work of Art, created by the master Creator.

If this is Art, much of what I write isn’t Art. “The frog is green.” Wow, that wasn’t really Art. You can analyse it all day and let it make you think deeply, I guess. When I write something for school, do I put in effort, or just hope to slide by? When I write this, do I make you want to read it over again? Creating Art is a very, very, very tall order. It is difficult to create Art. That’s why I’m challenging myself over the next few months: I’ve decided to write a book during October and November. It’s called a Haiku-a-Day challenge because I am going to write at least one haiku everyday, in addition to a small chunk of text, be that a poem, short story, or something nonfiction. The Indiegogo campaign for the book will go live October 1st, but here is a preview of that page, just to get you excited for it. I hope you'll be inspired!

https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/6e727e7a