Imagine. a vision for christians in the arts
the book- Imagine. a vision for christians in the arts by Steve turner. i want to buy. i read the pages on amazon. i like the ideas that Turner has of christians view of/on/about art. i definitely want to read the full text. i want to cut and paste some of what he said here- but amazon is stingy. i think saying that Christians should be active in popular art is spot on. how else will someone be able to truly affect the masses in a lasting manner. Popular art has often been vilified and seen as 'worldly' or 'secular' creating a division line between what is 'good' and what is 'bad' or Christians vs. everyone else. He also talks about christians being more interested in a person's testimony rather than their ability e.g. a rock musician's christian re-invention where he/she no longer sings death metal but christian music thereby leaving pop art behind. Turner makes some interesting points.
One point i liked was this: it isnt the questions people ask that makes them different, its the answers reached.
i feel as though people now, in the present, ARE asking the important questions about life, purpose, death etc. The way to inform their answers is to ask the same questions and give answers within the same medium in pop art. imagine how influential a person of Britney spears caliber may be. his criticism of christians take on art i think has merit. perhaps 2nd gens in UBF would agree with him wholeheartedly when he says,
" the complexities of human life were overlooked in a search for the 'simple truth'. chrisitan fiction for example, lacked the deep texture of real life because its writers were merely using the form to evangelize people..." OR
"the lack of Christians in the popular arts and the inferior quality of contemporary 'christian art' had an effect on me as a teenager. Because its claims were ignored, Christianity appeared to be culturally irrelevant...did it mean that cultural expressions of Christianity could only survive when unchallenged, in the cordoned off enclave of the Christian subculture...because the work that bore the name Christian was often poor in quality and naive in understanding, Christianity then by implication seemed insipid and uninspiring."
i myself agree with him to an extent. i dont think growing up i was as hardcore as he was or so immerse in the 'christian culture'. i will say this though, reading Turner i feel a point he is making is this: it is important for an artist be it musician, singer, painter, writer, what have you- to create their art in their own fashion and not be confined by tradition (whatever that may be) and that to have an impact, be taken seriously christian artists have to hold true to what they believe but also be willing to take risks and create. simply create and be prolific.
One point i liked was this: it isnt the questions people ask that makes them different, its the answers reached.
i feel as though people now, in the present, ARE asking the important questions about life, purpose, death etc. The way to inform their answers is to ask the same questions and give answers within the same medium in pop art. imagine how influential a person of Britney spears caliber may be. his criticism of christians take on art i think has merit. perhaps 2nd gens in UBF would agree with him wholeheartedly when he says,
" the complexities of human life were overlooked in a search for the 'simple truth'. chrisitan fiction for example, lacked the deep texture of real life because its writers were merely using the form to evangelize people..." OR
"the lack of Christians in the popular arts and the inferior quality of contemporary 'christian art' had an effect on me as a teenager. Because its claims were ignored, Christianity appeared to be culturally irrelevant...did it mean that cultural expressions of Christianity could only survive when unchallenged, in the cordoned off enclave of the Christian subculture...because the work that bore the name Christian was often poor in quality and naive in understanding, Christianity then by implication seemed insipid and uninspiring."
i myself agree with him to an extent. i dont think growing up i was as hardcore as he was or so immerse in the 'christian culture'. i will say this though, reading Turner i feel a point he is making is this: it is important for an artist be it musician, singer, painter, writer, what have you- to create their art in their own fashion and not be confined by tradition (whatever that may be) and that to have an impact, be taken seriously christian artists have to hold true to what they believe but also be willing to take risks and create. simply create and be prolific.
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