This week I listened to author Jeff Goin’s podcast, Hello Creator. In episode eight, the question of art and practicality was the topic, and Jeff asked, “Should art be practical?” We all assign to good art meaning, even if the artist never intended it to mean anything.
The most helpful creatives among us know this truth by painful experience: Our selfishness never helps us. It, in fact, has the opposite effect. When individual rights seem suspended, the idea of the “greater good” takes a back seat. For my Christian friends and family, the ethic of taking care of your neighbor divides our churches and our homes. Wearing a mask has become a violation of rights to some rather than a symbol or method of safety. Closing businesses upends livelihoods and shatters dreams. Disrupted worship services keep us away from the fuel of our faith and fellowship of our friends. We don’t walk this life alone, and this pandemic keeps us alone. Selfishness is a powerful tempter. And, at the moment, we are vulnerable to its seduction. My feelings are important, but how about the health of my loved ones? In LA County, our health officer’s life has …
Art as a commodity The first thing artists are accepted as in the church setting is as artisans who make things for the purposes of the church. This can be songs, music, architecture, graphics–or anything where the crafts of these servants are utilized. Film clips are used as sermon illustrations and graphics to help promote church events. Songs support a theme. We sing prayers. What we see creation at this level is not wrong. But, created content lives in this space as a commodity. There are exceptional people who sell clips, graphics, and other content. There is a place where we need creative content to help our purposes as a church. Art as a commodity, however, leaves us stuck. Artists are often asked to donate their time or assumed that if given opportunities to create for the church that the “exposure” is what they really need. Exposure does not pay …
“Fight Evil With Poetry” is not just a clever catchphrase. This anthology is rooted in the conviction that creative expressions of love are merely high road, but the most effective form of resistance against injustice.” Micah Bourne, Editor of “Fight Evil With Poetry” I sat down to talk with recording artist and poet Micah Bournes in downtown Long Beach at one of those cool hipster coffee shops. This was not the first time I met him. Several years ago he performed at a conference of creatives in the Nashville area. His story then was as compelling as his spoken-word performances. This young, African-American man from Long Beach, California attended a very conservative all-white Bible school. Micah is an activist, but artist and poets don’t fight by the same rules of the general population. Power often is wielded to silence foes. Artists give everyone a voice in the vacuum to power …
In our society, what works and produces profit is what we value. While we hunger for a post-modern identity and story, the structures, all around us scream utility, conformity and results. Money rules. This might even be true in our houses of worship as we may have unintentionally turned business metrics on our expression of worship. The question is this: do we value utility more than beauty in our worship? The answer is that our culture-infused church in modern America apparently does.