{"id":19620,"date":"2018-10-18T20:42:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T03:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=19620"},"modified":"2018-10-19T04:59:34","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T11:59:34","slug":"art-as-a-change-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/art-as-a-change-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"Art as a Change Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"

This era of hyper focus \u2013 and even addiction – to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and google images reinforces Dryness\u2019 premise that visual images are their own substantial narrative.\u00a0 Dyrness, in his work Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue <\/em>focuses on the importance of introducing\/reintroducing the visual experience as a tool in worship.\u00a0 Much like Pink\u2019s writing in Doing<\/em> Visual Ethnography,<\/em> both authors recognize the value of visual images and advocate for their integration into all facets of our daily life.\u00a0 \u201cScience shows us that our brains are wired to respond first to visual input. Images are the pathway to human emotions, and emotions govern how people make decisions.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting, then, that China has blocked all forms of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter)?\u00a0 Clearly, the Chinese government has an understanding of the power of images coupled with a fear that what is shared on social media could disseminate information and images which are harmful to the Chinese culture (social order).\u00a0 For example, \u201cChina banned the photo-sharing platform (Instagram) after pro-democracy protests rocked Hong Kong in 2014\u201d.<\/p>\n

I struggle to understand the rationale behind the decimation of art in the reformation – \u201cThe\u00a0Protestant Reformation\u00a0during the 16th century in Europe almost entirely rejected the existing tradition of Catholic art, and very often destroyed as much of it as it could reach\u201d.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Readings on the reformation imply that art was nearly banned because of iconoclasm, which is defined as:[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices.<\/em><\/p>\n

the rejection or destruction of religious images as heretical; the doctrine of iconoclasts.<\/em><\/p>\n

I question how much social control the protestant reformation was trying to exert, and why?<\/p>\n

As someone who has a deep appreciation for all things art, I appreciate Dyrness\u2019 efforts to educate on its importance in the faith journey.\u00a0 \u201cA large body of research indicates that visual cues help us to better retrieve and remember information. The research outcomes on visual learning make complete sense when you consider that our\u00a0brain\u00a0is mainly an image processor (much of our sensory cortex is devoted to vision), not a word processor. In fact, the part of the brain used to process words is quite small in comparison to the part that processes visual images.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Not only are visual cues important, but tapping into all five of the senses can be even more impactful.\u00a0 This reading by Dyrness connects well to concepts in Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul\u2019s Path to God<\/em> by Gary Thomas.\u00a0 Thomas shares nine sacred pathways (spiritual temperaments) which help human beings connect to God in unique ways (listed below):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Naturalists \u2014 love God best outdoors. These people worship in the midst of God\u2019s creation. They celebrate His majesty and discover spiritual truths through nature<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Sensates \u2014 love God through their senses. These people worship through sensual experiences \u2014 sights (like art), sounds (music), smells, and more <\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Traditionalists \u2014 love God through religious ritual and symbols. These people worship through traditions and sacraments of the Church. They believe structure, repetition, and rigidity, like weekly liturgy, leads to deeper understanding of God and faith <\/em><\/li>\n
  4. Ascetics \u2014 love God in solitude and simplicity. These people worship through prayer and quiet time, and the absence of all outside noise and distraction <\/em><\/li>\n
  5. Activists \u2014 love God through confrontation, fighting for godly principles and values. They worship through their dedication to and participation in God\u2019s truth about social and evangelistic causes <\/em><\/li>\n
  6. Caregivers \u2014 love God by serving others, and worship by giving of themselves. They may nurse the sick and disabled, \u201cadopt\u201d a prisoner, donate time at a shelter, etc. <\/em><\/li>\n
  7. Enthusiasts \u2014 love God through mystery and celebration. These people worship with outward displays of passion and enthusiasm. They love God with gusto! <\/em><\/li>\n
  8. Contemplatives \u2014 love God through adoration. These people worship by their attentiveness, deep love, and intimacy. They have an active prayer life <\/em><\/li>\n
  9. Intellectuals \u2014 love God with their mind and their hearts are opened up to a new attentiveness when they understand something new about God. These people worship through intense study, apologetics, and intellectual pursuits of their faith.[5]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Thomas believes that all people fall into one or more of the above temperaments in how their deep connection with God occurs. The first two temperaments (Naturalists and Sensates and maybe even the third Traditionalists), are all directly connected to visual images and all five senses. \u00a0Emotions can be dramatically evoked by tapping into senses \u2013 everything from anger and fear to joy and sadness.\u00a0 If I were to label myself, it would be as a naturalist.\u00a0 I find deep spiritual experiences in God\u2019s creation \u2013 especially mountains, wilderness, and wildlife.\u00a0 Even though it\u2019s not a piece of art per se, it is a visual feast of God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n

    Imagine the impact of media portrayals (via images) of the Somali refugees resettled in Columbus, Ohio.\u00a0 The Christian community is deeply divided in their political beliefs surrounding refugees, and images and videos may drastically alter thoughts and opinions.\u00a0 It is a disservice to refugees around the world when images are not being utilized to empower and embrace refugees, rather to show their struggle and anguish.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Images are powerful \u2013 are you in any way complicit to utilizing images in a way that harm rather than help?\u00a0 Do you recognize the impact and importance of images (and do you use them in your ministry)?\u00a0 I personally will self-evaluate to ensure that images I use fully represent the heart of Jesus.\u00a0 “Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.”\u00a0\u00a0 Victor Pinchuk<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.resource-media.org\/seeing-is-believing-report\/<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Art_in_the_Protestant_Reformation_and_Counter-Reformation<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> https:\/\/artscolumbia.org\/essays\/protestant-reformation-impact-art-43006\/<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/get-psyched\/201207\/learning-through-visuals<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> http:\/\/media.focusonthefamily.com\/fotf\/pdf\/fof_daily_broadcast\/2014\/ffde-20140416-9-sacred-pathways-final.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This era of hyper focus \u2013 and even addiction – to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and google images reinforces Dryness\u2019 premise that visual images are their own substantial narrative.\u00a0 Dyrness, in his work Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue focuses on the importance of introducing\/reintroducing the visual experience as a tool in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[289],"class_list":["post-19620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dyrness","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19620"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19649,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions\/19649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}