Damien Jurado has a new (promising) album.

http://www.saintbartlett.com/

Other favorite music related YouTube videos… [...]

Very sad.

100 Abandoned Houses

In the air, I suppose. I’m not quitting my regular full-time job and moving to Iceland, as per my original plan, but I am cutting down to half-time. I’m scared, because this means I will lose my benefits, and I’ve grown accustomed to, oh, say, going to the doctor when I’m sick, or… visiting the dentist. I know, I live such a luxurious life. Aside from stepping up the freelancing (which I hope to pursue more vigorously, I thought about what I really wanted to do, the only thing that affords me any freedom or happiness, and it’s beginning work in earnest on the lingerie line that a few friends and I began in 2006. Since then, it’s been nothing but hopes and dreams and something nice to talk about on those morning drives to the office, but as of September, Lo and Behold is my new focus, and I hope it will be successful. Just like to keep you all updated. I’m so scared.

Now I’m going to go watch Sarah Silverman and try not to feel too guilty for laughing.

Yesterday I was with most of you in here Springfield. It was great to see the guys that I communicate with daily on here but haven’t seen in person in some time. Oh, and Sage, thanks for the beer. Oh, and Branden too, thanks for the other beer.

Sitting in Q’doba (sipping “the best margarita you’ll ever have in a plastic cup”), we talked movies. A couple guys were rather excited for the new Transformers movie, and I scoffed. When pinned down and questioned as to the root of my arrogant elitism, I answered that that kind of movie isn’t art; it’s mere entertainment.

So what’s wrong with that? Is there no room for mindless entertainment? I was asked.

I’m not saying that, I said. I just get no pleasure out of it. It doesn’t entertain me.

And I’ve thought of this conversation ever since. I am puzzled at folks whose heart races at the thought of satisfying childhood nostalgia but thinks a good work like Little Miss Sunshine to be less than worthy. I’m convinced this discrepancy has to do with what attributes we are evaluating when judging a film or any other piece of art.

Too many Christians–indeed, most of the ones I know–want one of two kinds of art (whether it be movies, music, literature, painting): moralistic art that teaches a lesson consistant with their personal value system or mindless art that presents no apparent challenge to their personal value system.

I have a big problem with both of these types. I agree with what most Christian scholars who study the intersection of art and faith conclude: the way to glorify God in one’s art is not to preach a message through it but to shape it as finely as you can, to master the craft. No matter your personal worldview, it will shine through. That’s the beauty of art; it’s subtle. Straight communication is direct. It’s the difference between poetry and an instruction manual. Or Andrei Rublev and Transformers.

Precious Moments, Left Behind, Frank Perretti, Thomas Kinkade, all have the apparence of godliness without the substance. This is because they all lack the true craftliness that good art requires. Oh sure, Kinkade can paint a house in the woods with better perspective than I may, but his steady hand lacks the creative eye that a masterful, artistic sensiblity requires.

True art, true beauty isn’t always so pretty and obvious. Think of Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ). A crucifix in a jar of urine. His hand didn’t create a painting your grandma would buy at the local Bible bookstore to hang above her couch, but his artist-mind is far superior in that he concieved an image that speaks in a much deeper manner concerning spirituality. He doesn’t show us a faith as we’d like it to be but one that is.

Andrew Hudgins’s poem (www.slate.com/id/74144/) illuminates this image in an incredible way:

We have grown used to beauty without horror.
We have grown used to useless beauty.

An interview with the artist on issues of faith and art is found here: http://www.communityarts.net/reading…ing_the_kl.php.

I’ve made art my interest, passion, and hopefully someday my livelihood. The only time I’m not thinking about it is when I’m thinking about my faith. And with all that, all the thinking and reading I do in this topic, I can’t in good conscience find my self sitting in a theater, popcorn can in one hand, soda cup in the other, watching Transformers. Or Ratatouille. Instead, take me to The Moxie and show me Paris, Je T’Aime so I can thereby satisfy my arrogant elitism in good conscience–with pita chips and garlic hummus in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-out-of-a-Car-That%27s-Hanging-over-a-Cliff

 

“Modernism grew from the belief that style is the individual responsibility of the individual architect, who need obey no rules or principles beyond those of his own artistic conscience, and who owes no obedience to the order so painstakingly established by the generations who had gone before. Only the greatest of architects should make himself apparent in his works, and then only after acquiring that discipline of the mind and eye. What is wrong with modernism is precisely what is wrong with modernity-that it assumes an absolute licence to do as one pleases, while disparaging every discipline that would make the doing of it worthwhile.

“In the battle between the Classical and the Gothic, both sides were agreed over the most important point: that nothing matters more in a building than its public appearance. Facades, towers, roofs and pinnacles are the essence of architectutre, and the duty of the architect is to compose them successfully. Height, proportion and form are rendered intelligble by detail, and the true discipline of architecture, therefore, lies in a sense of detail-how to see it, how to draw it, and how to combine it in a harmonius totality. “

Roger Scruton
Building at a Crossroads

I ran across this today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From http://inhabitat.com/

 

I stumbled across this very cool site, SuperNaturale

http://www.supernaturale.com/

It’s all about do-it-yourself, and local mentality.

Fascinating and fun articles, and projects!

_________________________________

Also, I am pleased to announce the imminent launch of a line of women’s clothing I am involved with; Lo and Behold.

More information about that soon, just let it be said that I am very excited and I think this is a great idea.  We’re hoping to launch in a month, so I have a lot of designing to do, samples to cut and sew… Just you wait!

I will be submitting a paper to ‘Zeitgeist’, which is an academic conference for the Arts that Biola is hosting, and I think I will be writing on the necessity of a contextual understanding of history for a full enjoyment of cinema, art, and music.  If I am chosen, I will get to present and field questions.  I have a pretty good chance of being chosen, my topic is base enough, but I come at it from a good angle.

I was also asked to be part of a panel lecture on “How to Critique Art”, so I might also submit a paper about intent in art versus actual created substance, and how you have to judge both, in tandem.

 Any thoughts?

I ran across this fascinating article today and thought I’d share the love.

From here

Justo Gallego Martínez is building his very own Cathedral in Mejorada del Campo near Madrid, Spain

This is no “model” cathedral and he is neither a qualified architect, nor engineer, nor bricklayer — he is a farmer. “The plans have only ever existed in my head” and have evolved over time in response to opportunity and inspiration. Nor does he have formal planning permission from the authorities of Mejorada del Campo — the town in which it is located (20 km from Madrid under the flight-path to the Barajas airport).

Nor does he have the benediction or support of the Catholic Church. After eight years in a Trappist order — and just prior to taking his vows — he was obliged to leave, considerably weakened by tuberculosis and the monastic regime. His cathedral is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Madre de Jesús. He explains: “It’s an act of faith.” The cathedral has been bequeathed by him to the Bishopric of nearby Alcalá de Henares.
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