Art

Christians have been using art since before Christianity was named because art is art. As Don Hudson said in our reading Tuesday, "It is inevitable that a work of art reflects its creator and his or her era." Christ's name supposedly has this cleansing effect on anything we hang it on to. "Christian" art is art sanctified because it praises the Creator out right through a Christian's worldview, supposedly. The same goes for Christian movies, video games (yes Larryboy, I'm looking at you), as well as stories. Honestly, this is how I have viewed art for most of my life. Christian art was good and secular art was bad. Some things that had lessons were so "almost Christian" that it made them okay so long as I took a Jesus pill so the secular germs wouldn't contaminate my spirit. ... Seriously.

You think I'm kidding, dontcha?

But art is art is art is art. So long as the creator, whatever the field, takes their heart out and lobs it at their canvas (whatever the canvas actually is) and smears their inner child's dreams out for all to catch a glimpse of themselves through an otherworldly lens, we call it art. Sometimes it is happy, sometimes dark, thoughtprovoking, smart, stupid, or all of the above.

Case in point, Ink. Ink is a movie about a battle raging between the people who bring good dreams to children when they sleep and the ones who bring nightmares and death. *cough* There is one entity who is neither a Storyteller nor an Incubus, he is simply known as Ink. Ink is the spirit of a man who died and has lost his identity on the transition from one realm to the afterlife. So he drifts around looking for something to ease the pain he feels inside that is all he knows. He gets an offer to become an member of the Incubi in exchange for bringing a human child's spirit to them for sacrifice. Separating a child from themselves in their sleep puts their physical body into a coma. And so with a child taken, the Storytellers set off to save the child. Nice story that goes dark and gruesome fast. Laden with language from both antagonists and protagonists, among other things, I watched the first 15 minutes thinking: "This is not a good film, it is in no way Christ honoring." It turned out to be a great film because it is gritty, realistic, and carries the Gospel as Fairy Tale in a way I had never heard of before. Not bad for a "nasty, unholy, secular" film.

Seriously, go watch this masterpiece.

Now there are pieces of obviously Christian media that I have found to be very good at conveying a message and have had an impact on me. (Veggie Tales to Fireproof, Frank Peretti to Grace Livingston Hill) Now if only there had been something to teach about the nature of true art on a Sesame Street level. ... Nevermind.

I have been able to recognize the value of art in general as it relates to our "Neverending Story", but the deep Christian roots I have make it hard for me to not immediately tie God into my art. I know better than to try and separate the two as trying to make a "secular" work of art is just as bad as trying to make a "Christian" work of art. So I just pour my heart out to see what drips onto the paper, which is all I know or can think of to do.

 

So in closing, Christians can't not make art that reflects their Creator and shouldn't worry about it. We are to make real the dreams of the human soul and set the the imagination of a young child ablaze with the mysteries and wonder of a world that they will never understand.