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