We have a neat family bible study at night, I call it the Synapses Family Bible study. You can learn more about it at http://www.twoedgegraphics.com/pages/Synapsis.html Sometimes, I follow that with a reading from a book. We do the Bible study about 6 nights a week, but the other book is less often. The book we're reading now is “How Now Shall We Live?” By Chuck Colson, and Nancy Pearcy. It always sparks some lively discussions, many which are related, but peripheral It's a great chance to talk about how the bible fits life today. Whether you agree with the book or not, I recommend it just for the sake of the discussions. Tonight we read the page where he says the cultural mandate is as important as the great commission. At first I really balked at that idea, but then realized that Jesus did talk about a how well city on a hill can be seen, and to let your light so shine before men.
My caution lies with a concern over erroneous interpretations of the Bible. As a cultural and political approach, I am very much in favor of the ideas in the book. I guess it was ten years ago, but back then, vehicle graphics were more popular than today. I'm not sure why, but that's one of my favorite forms of expression. Certainly not going to be regarded as high brow art by many, but it's a very visible medium, and one that bring beauty or ugliness to an area. I think that my ideas (right or wrong) apply to other mediums as well, so bear with me.
Sure...in today's world, I'm not supposed to call anyone's work ugly, at least not for the reasons I do. If I see amateur unlearned work, I figure well, at least they were having fun, and maybe it's better than leaving the jalopy in it's unattended state. What I call ugly is the look of death. To clarify, often the ONLY reason it can be called ugly is it's theme. The artists doing the work are top rate, often better than me. They do first rate work as far as method and ability goes. The look of death is all the skulls, skeletons, prickly tribal flames, barbed wire, and so on. It includes guns, gangs, violence, and degradation of women.
So, what does Christian vehicle graphics look like? I've thought about it some, always open to discussion. What I've come up with so far is this list:
>About life...Uh-oh, I just remembered an event, an epiphany I guess. This post is getting long, but it was good to me, please let me relate it. I was in Pigeon Forge, a nearby tourist area. I stepped back to look at a sign I was working on, and I saw the Jim Gray Gallery on the corner. At the time, I was trying to define the word 'art'. Look in the American Heritage Dictionary, probably a dozen definitions. So all this is swirling in my head (maybe sloshing?) and I looked at the paintings in the window. Nice stuff. Maybe heavy on a genre, it was a painting of a mountain scene with trees in bloom. Whatever you think of it, it was nice, and so well done. I mean the guy's tops in the skill department. I thought about the typical buyer of a painting like that. A lady buys it, knows just which room it's intended for. She takes it home, and sets up a terrific decor, and her home is better than before.
If I bought that painting, it wouldn't have a moment's rest. Not that I'd be hugging it or anything, but I would study it. I'd study the layout, the colors, brush techniques, whatever I could. Then it hit me! I was asking the wrong question. Instead of asking what is art, I should have asked what is an artist? An artist is a teacher. An artist gets us to see things we've been overlooking. An artist can glorify God by showing the beauty of His creation.
What I'd like to do is make some graphics that bring the message of Romans Chapter one, the part about people being unexcused, because creation testifies of God. Not in a condemning way, but to show that these things couldn't have come about by themselves, further, that many are beautiful beyond function. Consider flowers, if bees have such primitive eyesight, and tiny brains, then why would flowers need to evolve to the point of design that they are today. Subtle stripes, dots, color blends, petal shapes, and a lot more. Surely an effective attractant for a bug flying in the distance would be a basic screaming yellow, red, or purple blob, a simple shape that would stand out in a background of irregular foliage. One of my favorites is a Cicada wing. Aside from the incredible engineering it takes to make something that light be a component of flight, which grows from an egg, aside from that fantastic complexity, look at the vein pattern in the wing. It is art. So cool looking. When I say 'life', I mostly mean not glorifying death. If you deplored the use of an atomic bomb, or some other violent act, and made art about it, I wouldn't dismiss the work, because it was dark. Art is expression.
>Well made. Christian artists shouldn't get slack in the abilities department, because the message is so important. When Christians make music, it should be the BEST music. When Christians make a movie, it should be VERY well made. Whatever the medium, we should be putting out the best quality. The work will be appealing and memorable. The song will replay in people's mind because it sounds neat, people will tell their friends about the movie because it was so riveting.
>Intelligent. I could quickly get out of my league on this one, but you gotta try, aim that way and all. Integral to a project well made is that intelligent execution be obvious to those who examine the work. It needs to challenge and compliment the audience's intellect. The adversary has made great effort to present Christians as backwoods simpletons. I'm sure I've helped him out a time or two. But as liberals lose control of the media, a greater audience will be reached by Christians, and stereotypes can be diminished.
>A message. Sometimes you can be more explicit than others. I don't even try to put a Bible verse on every graphic project. Right now, I'm working on artistic camouflage. Right, it sounds bizarre, but see it before deciding. Not only am I trying to make it appealing, but also a different visual theory. Not done yet, so no pictures. Sure is a lot of fun though, which come to think of it, is a category in itself.
>Fun and joy. I once commented on another blog, something about how an artist should bring beauty even in dire circumstances, like a flower persevering in a bleak urban setting. Easier said than done. Lately I've met my dark concrete alley. Nonetheless, we are allowed to have fun, part of that is innovation. Try new stuff. Experiment! It's a blast, and it will put you at the front of you field. Tradition can be such a shackle, maybe casket is the word. There has been discussion regarding drawing attention to oneself, I can in no way dismiss the subject as unimportant. However, I quickly counter that tradition is the false assurance that many die in, far more dangerous that unusual graphics. Wait, wasn't I talking about fun? Yeah, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt for people to see us having fun...might even vanish another stereotype.
