Mask

                Masks have lots of deeper meaning across many different cultures and time periods. In some situations, they were used in war to frighten and intimidate, while in other situations they were in festivals and religious rituals. One example of the usage of masks mentioned in the reading is the Hopi people. They used masks to represent the spirits that would help them if they were called upon. Men of the tribe often wore masks representing these spirits and performed ceremonies in the different villages, often calling on the spirits, called Katsinas, for help provide for rain and agricultural aid mostly.

                     For this project we incorporated masks that we made form plaster and then painted. In the project we were supposed to explore the many possible meanings and uses of the mask. Some of the meanings provided we were to explore included: Rite of passage, festival of renewal, gender, theater, and offense/defense. I was particularly drawn to festival of renewal and offense/defense. The offense/defense was interesting because they were worn in war times to intimidate and signify sides. I play soccer and we use our jerseys to accomplish that, so I was interested in that topic. However, I chose to do the festival of renewal, and make the process of removing the mask one of renewal.

                      For my image, I painted my mask to be happy and joyful, seemingly put together and normal. This represented the societal pressure we experience to always be presentable and sociable. Specifically at Wheaton, there is pressure to always be happy and loving life, because we are Christians and supposedly should have everything together. I have found this Wheaton culture to force people behind false pretenses in order to hide their struggles and uncomfortable sin. In the image, I am in the shower washing away the mask. This represents cleaning myself of the expectation that I have to be perfect. Sometimes I struggle with sin, and I'm struggling through life and school, and this image shows the desire to wash away the mask and be real with those around me. It's a festival of renewal because I am ridding myself of societal pressures and becoming renewed.

Portraits Real/Ideal

                 This project begins to deal with portraiture. Portraits have a long history, and can be seen across many different cultures and time periods. From the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci in cerca 1503, to the ancient burial portraits of the ancient Egyptians, portraits can be seen everywhere. My personal favorite artist mentioned in the lecture was Richard Avedon. The way he captured Marylyn Monroe in her typical mood, and then also in her more depressed and contemplative mood was moving. Avedon, regardless of his methods, does a great job of expressing people's inner  selves and capturing truly meaningful portraits.

                For this project, we were assigned partners to work with. We were to attempt to portray our real selves, along with an ideal self we may aspire to be like. My partner for the real and ideal portraits was Erica Forkner. When we talked about what she felt her ideal and real self were, they seemed to be pretty similar. Erica is very content with who she is and in a stage of her life where she has a very joyful inner essence. She always desired to be a Wheaton student (she's a third generation), and now she is attending the school she always wanted to go to, loving every minute of it. She is joyful and funny, and loves her family and friends deeply. We encountered an issue because Erica doesn't have an ideal self that she aspires to be more like. She is content with how she is. I showed this by picturing her in two fairly similar photos, with one showing her more true spunky self that lives life to the fullest.

                    The two images I chose were shot on Blanchard lawn. This is significant because Erica loves Wheaton and it means a lot to her and her family for many generations, and Blanchard is commonly used to represent Wheaton. The first photo is the ideal. It shows the "Ideal" Wheaton student that Erica sometimes feels pressure to be. They must be put together, mature, and studious. The real Erica is being goofy, carelessly laying in the grass, not acting as studious and serious as a Wheaton student may be expected. I think this image does a great job of capturing Erica's joyful and energetic spirit. She loves life, and enjoys where she is at along her journey at Wheaton.

 

 

 

Picture about God

 

My picture about God includes some pictures from Gold star chapel in Beamer Student center. My work was partially inspired by the work of Matthias Grunewald picturing the crucifixion of Jesus. The hands that he portrays in the picture are very expressive. Jesus' hands are clenched in pain, while Mary's are clasped, almost pleading with God to save Jesus. John is shown pointing at Jesus. I tried to include hands clasped before the thrown in the second tryptic. I also included a section of Grunewald's piece that shows the battered flesh of Christ in the third triptych.

The stained glass also helps portray my image of God. The first piece shows the shepherd guiding and protecting his sheep. The second piece shows an image of the Father embracing the prodigal son. To me, the cross connects us to the father and allows us to be embraced by him by the mercy of Christ. The cross between these images seems to connect the prodigal son to the shepherd father. The order and placement of the images helps to accentuate this meaning.

The third picture I posted is my favorite. I love the way Christ's torn flesh contrasts with the beauty of the stain glass. It shows that his suffering in contrast with the glory of Heaven. The triptych itself also creates the shape of the cross, which is similar to the way they design cathedrals in this way, in the shape of the cross. This image does the best job portraying my image of God.

To me, the most incredible thing about God is the fact that he sent his son to suffer on earth. In almost no other religion does the Deity humble himself to servant hood, yet our God died for us as though he were a criminal, in order for us to experience his presence. Thus this is why I focused on the crucifixion and it's contrast with the beauty of the stain glass. Again, I think my final image does the best job of portraying this.

 

Obstruction

Our project is centered on interruptions.  We hope to convey how we often do not recognize all the beauty around us because of the constant distractions of life. We will convey how our tendencies to focus on technology and the hurried nature of life often subtract from the beauty of nature. Part of what we are trying to convey is how all the interruptions we face have changed the way we view beauty. Technology, media and industry are constantly infringing upon nature and framing the way we see nature in its original state. Nature seems more distant and unknown because we constantly view it through screens or man made constructions of nature. Our project puts the foreign objects of technology and man's handiwork in contrast with raw nature.

The fairy tale that we incorporated is that of Hansel and Gretyl. They are sent away to die in the woods, but leave behind a trail of bread crumbs so that they may follow it back through the wild to find their home again.  In this tale, the bread crumbs stand out in the nature in serve as a signals to guide the children back to safety. Our images attempt to portray the technology and media (computer, light bulbs, posters) like the bread crumbs. They stand out and  are a sign of the way we ultimately find ourselves distant from nature. Luckily, we snapped a picture of a bread truck seemingly driving through the forest. This quite literally represents a trail of bread crumbs.

                                           Our approach is similar to that of Thomas Cole. Thomas Cole mastered the use of lines and texture in the creation of his work. For example, in his oil paintings, Romantic Landscape with Ruined Tower and The Return, Cole effectively used the elements of line, color, and shadow to bring attention to the beauty of the natural landscape that exists in different settings. We hope to be able to use similar elements to be able to draw attention to God’s great artwork and his great wonders. We also hope to make a distinction between the ever-changing nature of man-made structure and the constant nature of God’s creation. In Cole’s work, he often displayed man-made structures breaking down and falling apart, as nature maintained its grandeur.                 

Misdirected

                     In this project I contrasted the advertisements for some popular technological devices with real pictures of people actually using them. The contrast showed some misdirection that occurs within the advertisements. People seem to be entirely consumed by there phones and other devices. They use technology as a window to distract themselves from their own lives, and to become disengaged from the people they are with. In the movie Rear Window, the main character does the same thing. He uses his neighbors lives as a way to disengage from those who are around him. In the same way, we stare at our phones and create a world within them that allows us disengage from the people and events around us.

                    The order of the pictures is intended to progress through the different ways the advertisements entice us, and the ways those enticements actually play out in the real world. It begins with  love and entertainment, and then moves to revolution and life companion. Overall, the order just allows comparisons between the advertisements and corresponding pictures.

Fading Impressions

           Our lives are temporary and forgotten. Just as the snow comes with each winter, and then          disappears with the coming of spring, we also come and go with the passing of time. For my project, I focused on the temporal nature of snow and how the impressions made in it wash away under the warmth  of the sun. These images point to the frailty and meaninglessness of our lives. The impacts we make    here on earth, whether big or small will fade away with the coming of new generations. Ecclesiastes    1:2-4 says, "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever." We arrive on this earth, make our mark, and eventually fade back into the ground.                 

            As humans, I believe we are both temporal and eternal. Our physical vessels that we inhabit on earth will fade away. But we were created for a Glory that is much greater than earth, and an existence that will never fade. This concept is so hard to grasp that I feel we often neglect to stop and dwell on the gravity of eternal life. Eternity will come, and time will be arbitrary. We are constrained by time on earth, but soon  their will be no need for the measure of time.                                               

            I hope that my images serve as meditations on our temporal nature. They highlight the fact that snow is easily washed away and forgotten. Most of my images either include impressions in the snow or the melting away of those impressions. I believe the most powerful image is the last. The        impressions are fading into the ground, and the robin in the foreground signifies the coming of             spring. My goal is that people would see these images and be reminded of the small impact we have    now, and that they would look towards eternity with hope.                                                                      

             The major inspiration behind my images is the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres. He deals with  the impressions left behind by people in their everyday life. Specifically, his image of an empty bed     with impressions left in the pillows and the sheets. The image speaks to loneliness and death through  the stillness and emptiness of the picture. The only sign of human life in the image is the imprints left behind on the pillows.          

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. Ecclesiastes 1:2-4                                                         

Temple

Temple

         "Don't judge a book by its cover". This cliché is spoken often, but it may cause us to overlook the importance of the "cover". I personally always judge a person I don't know by their physical appearance. It is hard not to since this is the only aspect of their lives I can experience. It is important for us to know that our body is a representation of who we really are, even though it does not tell the whole story. We should not judge others based on their appearances, but it is important to begin to put more thought into taking care of your own body. The cover may not tell the story, but it is meant to draw the audience in.

      It says in 1 Corinthians that we should honor God with our bodies, for they are not our own. I think so often we forget that taking care of our bodies is not only a way of glorifying God, but its scripturally mandated. It is seen as vain and meaningless when people value fitness, but I think there can be a deeper meaning to staying fit. I do recognize that some people pay far too much attention to their bodies, but I am simply arguing the majority of people who pay too little attention to them. The body is our temporary dwelling place, and we should take care of it.  

       For my project, I followed around a Wheaton football player for a couple of days. He is well-known for is body. Building muscle and working on his physical appearance is a big part of who he is. Many people accuse him of vanity, but there is more to him than just his appearance. Behind the muscles, he is a kind guy who loves Jesus. I will say he is not perfect, and sometimes is caught up in the vanity of his appearance, but he is aware of this and tries to fight it. He told me in a conversation once that it all would be meaningless without Christ. He is motivated to give glory to God through his body, and he uses his bodybuilding as a platform to share Christ with those he meets along the way. I hope my work can show a little bit of where Mike's true identity lies. 

          It was extremely difficult to find the right pictures and a good order to put them in. I settled on this order because I thought it flowed well and conveyed the message I was aiming for. I began with a picture that draws attention to Mike's body, and it stands for how I think other people view him. Progressively I insert pictures of him in everyday life, showing he is more than just a body. I end on the image of the Bible because it signifies his true motivation and the greater meaning to his appearance.  

         My project is in part inspired by the blog Humans of New York. The photographer takes photos of random people on the streets of New York, and then posts them with quotes of something they said or part of their life stories. It gives deeper meaning to the faces you may pass on a daily basis. The blog causes you to see people for more than just the way they appear.

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22

Drifting in Fallen Beauty

                Often I wonder how the world appeared in the very beginning, the way it was intended to be. The incredible beauty that still remains is only a fraction of what once was. Man’s grasp has enveloped the earth and tainted it. Yet, so easily we forget this. If we only take a moment to get lost in the brokenness of our world, we can be reminded we were made for so much more.

                As I wandered through the paths of the conservatory I found objects that did not belong. Subtle hints that the environment was not how it was intended to be in nature. The hands of the caretakers could be seen hiding in plain sight. I was lost in the fraud. The true beauty of the life surrounding me was tainted by man’s constraints. In her work “Getting Lost”, Rebecca Solnit mentions, “That thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you is usually what you need to find, and finding it is a matter of getting lost.” Creation’s true and perfect nature is entirely unknown to us, yet getting lost in the brokenness of creation reminded me of the perfection we have fallen from. It was a paradoxical moment of being reminded of perfection through seeing brokenness.

                 The order of my pictures is supposed to speak to the concept of fallen beauty as well. The first image serves as almost a warning or caution of what is to come. The middle portions are ordered to flow well from one to another, with some of them paired with like images. The last image is placed at the end as a sort of final statement. The little girl is surrounded by fake green poles, while the real leaf is almost reaching out to her. She stands clasping her hands and almost looks burdened. These elements of the picture summarize how we are surrounded and burdened by fallen nature, while true beauty is still reaching out to us. The nature of the image does a good job of concluding the set of images.

                  My work fits into two of the categories of art listed in the "What is Art" reading. First, I would place it into the Art and Religion section. The work is made in an attempt to speak to the fallen nature of man that is a central theme within the Bible. Second, I would place it into the Art, Intellect, and Emotion category. The author summarizes this category as art that makes you feel deeply, and consequently makes viewers reflect upon self-knowledge and the knowledge of the outside world. I hope that my work invokes emotion and causes viewers to reflect upon their knowledge of themselves and the world around them.

                The parallel between the artificial world of the conservatory and the world we live was made clear to me as I walked. The conservatory is a limited representation of how the plant life was supposed to occur in nature, it was easy to find the artificiality. The truest form of the beautiful organisms was confined by a manmade environment. This is true for earth as well. Life is not how it was intended to be. Our environment has been tainted by man, and we walk in the fraud daily. Just as the little girl wandered through the conservatory, clueless of the true potential of what surrounded her; often we wander through life forgetting that beauty was once so much more.

                  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Romans 8:19-21