Art Like Love
Earlier today I tried to describe art as Love is described in the bible.
At first the idea of it seemed like a fantastic correlation but as I tried to connect the two I found it to be impossible and absolutely wrong.
Keep in mind that I was not trying to describe an art piece but art as a whole.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Can art be patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keep no account of wrongs, take no pleasure in evil while rejoicing in the truth? Can art bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things?
I think the answer is yes. Each one of these qualities could exist in a single piece or an artists style but it cannot be the answer to the age old question, "what is art?" Art does carry these qualities but it also carried the exact opposite of these qualities.
Maybe 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is better suited as a question for our own pieces. If we are stuck when describing a piece maybe we can use it as a check list then decide what our piece means to us.
---
(Circle One)
Is your piece emotionally:
Patient OR Agitated OR None
Kind OR Cruel OR None
Envious OR Confident OR None
Boastful OR Humble OR None
Proud OR Inferior OR None
Rude OR Polite OR None
Self Seeking OR Curious about the world OR None
Angry OR Happy OR None
Does your piece:
Keep account of wrongs OR Keep account of rights OR Neither
Take pleasure in evil OR rejoice in the truth OR Neither
Bear all things OR Consist of nothing OR Neither
Believe in all things OR Believe in nothing OR Neither
Hope all things OR hope nothing OR Neither
Endure all things OR Endures nothing OR Neither
---
Maybe we can even print this list out, set it out next to our piece and ask viewers to fill it out based on what they believe. We could then get a variety of opinions about our piece and use these opinions as a study that may help answer the question, "what is art?"
At first the idea of it seemed like a fantastic correlation but as I tried to connect the two I found it to be impossible and absolutely wrong.
Keep in mind that I was not trying to describe an art piece but art as a whole.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Can art be patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keep no account of wrongs, take no pleasure in evil while rejoicing in the truth? Can art bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things?
I think the answer is yes. Each one of these qualities could exist in a single piece or an artists style but it cannot be the answer to the age old question, "what is art?" Art does carry these qualities but it also carried the exact opposite of these qualities.
Maybe 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is better suited as a question for our own pieces. If we are stuck when describing a piece maybe we can use it as a check list then decide what our piece means to us.
---
(Circle One)
Is your piece emotionally:
Patient OR Agitated OR None
Kind OR Cruel OR None
Envious OR Confident OR None
Boastful OR Humble OR None
Proud OR Inferior OR None
Rude OR Polite OR None
Self Seeking OR Curious about the world OR None
Angry OR Happy OR None
Does your piece:
Keep account of wrongs OR Keep account of rights OR Neither
Take pleasure in evil OR rejoice in the truth OR Neither
Bear all things OR Consist of nothing OR Neither
Believe in all things OR Believe in nothing OR Neither
Hope all things OR hope nothing OR Neither
Endure all things OR Endures nothing OR Neither
---
Maybe we can even print this list out, set it out next to our piece and ask viewers to fill it out based on what they believe. We could then get a variety of opinions about our piece and use these opinions as a study that may help answer the question, "what is art?"
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