Pop Art, Surrealism, and Cultural Change

About a month ago a Chinese friend came over and we watched BBC biographies about Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Salvador Dali.

A few things:

First—I couldn’t believe how much I miss these kinds of conversations and opportunities for learning and challenging my brain to think and discern, probe, and question. I miss it so much I could cry.

(Truly.)

My soul LONGS to go to the library and just walk around the shelves, drinking in the smell of the musty carpet, and the molding books.

(I often have my kindergarten students smell books so they can get the FULL experience of reading – even if they think the smell is yucky.)

Second—It is astounding the extent to which these artists have changed and shaped the Western worldview! It was so interesting for me to watch the biographies with an Eastern friend who had never really learned about them before. She doesn’t relate so much to the art or the changes it has made.

(Though, her culture is changing.)

                                                                                  To begin:

-Andy Warhol-

(museum)

Hasn’t he changed our culture?!!

(He was a social outcast.)

Think of the promotion of having your own personal camera (video and photo) to capture all your “special times”. 

(That’s right. You do have one. And you do snap and share.)

Think of the creation of YouTube and Facebook – and blogs.  We think we are important because we “are”. We think we have the right to have our 15 seconds of fame.

He coined this phrase.

(I didn’t know. I was shocked.)

I am glad to have the silk-screen technique.

Does the “captivation” of everyday items in a piece of art take away from what we should actually value and honor, or was he right?

These are the things we use and know, so why not recognize them properly?

(But, really?!? Soup cans? Our faces? Marilyn Monroe dyed different colors??)

Doesn’t that distract us from giving honor to those things that are actually honorable? 

(Doesn’t it dumb-down our senses?)

But, ::cough, cough:: who’s to say what is honorable?

Who has the authority to bring the standard?

(yeah…)

-Salvador Dali-

Surrealism. Wow! Subtly took away our sensibilities as a culture. His art was the great advertisement for the philosophy. How it has influenced TV, what is possible to say, psychiatry, and the self-control of our culture.

Enraging and it ASTOUNDS me!

Everybody has the right to express everything they feel because feeling “it” (though there is no need for a particular “it”,) makes “the” valid.

All is valuable (and that’s not even the right word) ---.

All is whatever it may be, therefore; all is all.

(megkaminski.wordpress.com)

 

I have never enjoyed the “melting” clocks or chopped off chicken heads. And how can people be so audacious as to say, “This is magnificent because it is my subconscious. You don’t understand it? Neither do I. That’s the beauty.”

(Though, I must admit, it does sound nice. The above picture is even intriguing, though it isn't my favorite. It's not so much the meaning in IT, but behind and in IT. I do enjoy the pleasant mystery of some of this movement's art pieces. It sounds open and free – like leaving the crowded city to enjoy the open freshness of the mountain scenery. Just enjoy the experience of whatever may come.)

BUT! It’s a snare and trap because of what we are and what actually is.

It removes us from reality because it takes us away from what is reality.

It is a deception.

(Yes, there is a reality.)

Its "purpose" (irony?) is to promote the questioning of what is.

What does have a higher value? Anything? Why not the subconscious? Why “repress” it?

Let it speak; for that is us.

(I stick out my tongue.)

Hmmm…

Maybe I could make a tongue-shaped pen.

Actually, no, that would hold too much reason – tongues speak words and pens write words.

Maybe I could make it a hair bow or a car’s shape – my lips and tongue pointing out.

No, no!

(Too much meaning.)

Aha!

I should make a bear-shaped computer.

Yes.

(It would be available in multiples of personalized colors and patterns, of course.)

[If needed, it could represent my rage against the machine - as represented by the bear (rage) and computer as our culture's main form of communication - also showing the degree to which our culture has changed. Ooh! Look at my subconscious speaking!! Except not because it was reasoned.]

What annoys me most is how much this man and his artistic expressions influenced me through my culture – without me even knowing it!

I submitted to his false philosophies unaware of what I was doing.

How?

I know I find surrealism funny. (Oscar Meyer hot dog car.)

But that’s also the point that BUGS me –

Opening the door for the manufacturing of hot dog cars made him rich and famous?!

(http://www.finemainelobster.com/lobster-telephone/ -- language here)

WHY?!!!

Would no one ever have done it?

What is so amazing about a phone being in the shape of a lobster, or a chair being in the shape of lips?!!

And that is the point. That is how numb I am to the influence of surrealism – I don’t even know the world without it. I don't even comprehend the strangeness.

**Sidenote**

Of course, the point is not so much what was made, but the opening of them to be made. It's the breaking down of the society as we have known it to be. --And the idea of what can be "represented" as we are moved by our subconscious.

-Pablo Picasso-

I like his face. (Maybe it's because he kind of reminds me of children's authors, Eric Carle and Tomie dePaola. haha)

 Anyways, Picasso intrigues me.

It’s more the process of his life as expressed in his art and its transformation over time.

I also find it intriguing why and how he came to be so famous and so well known.

The shirt he wore?

(I never knew it was his shirt!)

Guernica intrigues me. The expression of emotions are powerful. I think Picasso's work is full of powerfully expressed emotion. (Yeah, weird and disturbing at times as well.) But, his organization of color and shape. Wow.

(http://www.sinoorigin.com/famous-artists/pablo-picasso.html)

Third—Once again, I am mesmerized by the affect of art on life, life on philosophy, historical changes, the movement of a people, change and development of music, ideals, the course of history, the affect of the individual on the group, the affect of the group (culture) on the choices of the individual, science, and the future of the world – all wrapped up, connected, and defined by the plan of the Sovereign God.

The depth and detail of their influence upon one another is far beyond my comprehension.

It blows my mind.

That’s why I love it.

Psalm 29:3-4

Ascribe to the Lord, O Heavenly Beings

Ascribe to the Lord GLORY and STRENGTH.

Ascribe to the Lord the GLORY due His Name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

--In the clothing of holiness.

Set apart. Consecrated.

Living Sacrifice.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

The God of glory thunders,

The Lord over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

2) the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

3) physical strength and force exerted by something or someone: the power of the storm.

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

1) impressive stateliness, dignity, or beauty: experience the majesty of the Rockies.

Ascribe to the Lord, O Heavenly Beings. (command)

Ascribe to the Lord GLORY and STRENGTH. (command)

Ascribe to the Lord the GLORY due His Name; (command)

worship the Lord in the SPLENDOR of HOLINESS. (command)

“Ascribing” is also a type of call to worship – we are attributing to Him certain characteristics. Bringing GLORY to His Name because we are declaring our delight and love for Him and Who He is.

Four times we are commanded.

We are even told WHAT to ascribe – glory and strength.

We are even told how we may come – in the SPLENDOR of holiness.

And, HALLEUJAH, how do we get these garments of splendor?

I cannot make them myself – only through the death and resurrection of Jesus ad the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. THEN we will be presented blameless before Him – in our garments of holy splendor.

Now, we fight and press on for those garments.

Now we stand in the complete work of Christ – fixing our eyes on Jesus; setting our minds on Heavenly things; presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. (Hebrews 11; Colossians 3; Romans 8)

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

The GOD of GLORY THUNDERS,

The Lord, over many waters.

Repetition to make a point.

Review.

Pictures of Genesis 1:2 come to my mind.

How can a voice be “hovering” (so to speak) over the waters?

“Hovering” brings to mind a picture of thickness.

I love that phrase, “the God of glory THUNDERS.”

Wouldn’t you love to hear that delightfully horrifying sound?

A sound that strengthens you but shakes you to the core of your being – the ultimate adrenaline rush.

I can’t wait to hear His Voice and not just the shadows of it in our thunder.

Maybe that’s why we, as a people are drawn to the sights and sounds of the storms and the waters.

Truth be told, I like the ocean waters so much that I get a little teary-eyed when I think about their absence in the new earth. (Of course, whatever is there will be MUCH better and I will laugh at myself for being so silly.)

Perhaps, because the voice of the Lord thunders and sounds like rushing waters, maybe the need for the ocean’s waves is gone.

Maybe the sounds of the seraphim and cherubim and the four living creatures and the elders will scatter away in “lost dreams” the sounds of the ocean.

How is a voice “full of majesty”?

I looked it up and my computer dictionary had a good sentence, “Experience the majesty of the Rockies.”

Breath-taking and overwhelming is the voice of the Lord.

A voice that is foreshadowed by all the created things I love: oceans, mountains, and thunderstorms.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory DUE His Name.

Forever is not enough.

A Little Breakfast with My Science

As I took my breakfast from the refrigerator this morning I was thinking about my “disciplined” life – if it could happen. It just seems that with the unpredictability of the world, this is not possible. People come, you talk, and the whole schedule of the day (life) changes. You aren’t working, so work gets put off. As you talk, more work comes. You work on work at a later time because of the aforementioned conversation. You go to bed later than scheduled. Going to bed later makes it much harder to get up at the appointed time. You push snooze. Pushing snooze then makes you unable to shower AND work out AND have quiet time. And so, you must make a choice. Schedules shape life, life changes the schedule. Nothing in my schedule can be for sure, it would seem.

Life is unreliable because I don’t know it.

Maybe that’s (one reason) why tragedy is so shocking for us. Tragedy is unplanned and it messes up your schedule for the rest of your (day) life. It's the horrible, black, unknown that controls you suddenly, when you had other plans for your future and didn’t want to be controlled.

As I continued down this thought-path of nothing being for sure, not being able to count on anything, and why try when all plans get tossed out the window anyways, I realized that I was (and do) depend on something.

I was relying on the reality of the laws of physics. I was relying on the hope that the fridge will remain upright and will not crush me (as long as there is no earthquake and I don’t try to pull too hard to open the door).

The vegetable is held in its place by gravity and I can see it, reach out my hand, aim for the vegetable, move my fingers to grab it, pull it up, and bring it to my mouth. The position of the vegetable does not suddenly change, at this moment I can control my arm and hand muscles, and the location of my mouth remains the same.

Laws/attributes of physics, though they are subject to sudden change, are reliable. Even when physical changes suddenly occur, they happen within and according to the laws of physical/chemical/biological/geological/etc. possibilities.

We walk without worrying too much about bleeding-out on the ceiling.

Could these things be manifestations of the character of God? A cry to the world that there are laws, standards, constants?

Of course, the reality that we identify and live according to constants would seem to display the reality that they had to be organized and ordered -- by Something.

They can’t all be questioned and left forever in that “almost law because we can never be sure that something won’t change and so we can never actually know anything to be absolute.”

I don’t live that way.

I open my fridge (with the correct amount of force,) and I trust that it will not crush me. I don’t cringe in fear, worrying that this could be the moment when we discover that these laws, (which I don’t know,) aren’t actually laws after all.

Of course, physics is the great mystery – the mystical world of science. The developments of Einstein, the theory of relativity, the metaphysical world.

The physical world is beyond us.

 (Ironic, what we are is too much for us to be and know.)

The physical and the “outside of what we see and experience” have different dimensions.

Another testament?

God is reliable and does not change. He can be trusted. He can speak and we can believe His Words.

And yet, He is also far beyond our comprehension. Far beyond what we can comprehend, or even fully appreciate and worship. We cannot know Him fully nor predict what He will do or why He will do it, but we can rely on what He has revealed of Himself.

And He calls on us to know Him.

He wants to be known.

He has opened to us the mystery of knowing Him.

Mystery.

Must be solved.

Mystery with an answer.

Mystery with several layers.

Some reliable and told.

Some yet to be revealed and unpredictable.

The knowable, reliable, trustworthy, mysterious, and powerful I AM.

And so, though there is this mystery of the unknown and inability to comprehend, overall there is consistency in our world. Even if it is shocking, unplanned, and upsetting, we trust that the night will come, and then the sun will rise. The world continues to rotate and we (developed countries) continue to grab food from our fridges in order to feed our bodies.

The reliable within the ungraspable. 

Morning Ponderings

 How does malnutrition affect a population’s physical attributes over the course of 50 or more years?

--(America vs China and/or other (similar) Asian countries that have experienced consistently, years of famine, lack of various types of nutrition, etc.)

If the variety of skin color is in our DNA, how did it get worked out and is it just a coincidence that people who have darker skin (various Asian shades to the various African shades) are often in warmer climates than those with lighter skin? 

(Europeans – often. Though! What about Spaniards? Aren’t French and Italians also known for being able to get tan and/or being “olive-skinned”?)

How has skin color changed and “developed” over time? (Why does it matter? --Curious.)

My perspective is that life is NOT set, planned, and locked. But, is that only a result of what I am and what I can see? …Hmmm…

Oliver whispered to Lucia, “Time is running away!”

World from a child: in the garden, watching things grow, chasing moths and butterflies, not wanting anything to die, hoping they will live.

Another School Year Begins

I found this on my desktop a couple days ago. 

Meant to post it a couple months ago. 

It's good timing now too.

What is teaching?

So, I just finished my third year teaching.

I have battled with the Lord about why I (disorganized, scattered me,) am a teacher since I started in the teacher credential program – maybe even a bit before that. (Yes, I contemplated changing my major many times.)

As is my tradition I made “certificates of thankfulness” to send home with my students (at the end of the year) that include a couple class photos, stars, their name, and my signature. I usually include an encouraging note on the back about what I enjoyed about them and what I hope they will do in their future.

I was writing these notes [that morning] around…4am (time management…another one of my weaknesses,) and I started wondering why in the world I was writing such notes to kindergarteners. I was tempted to make them short and simple. Cut to the chase –

I am thankful you were in my class.

You are quite cute.

Have a great summer.

I will miss you.

Love, Miss Martin

Readable and would keep their attention span.

But then I thought about them referring to this note in the future. Maybe it would give them encouragement. I hoped.

This afternoon one of my students sent me an email.

It reads,

Dear    miss martin,               

thank you for the note you gave me I almost cried have you ever seen a note and cried?                                                                                                                                                                

rite a not back ill miss you! Fi i'm going to miss you!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe we can impact their future as well as their present.

Press on and endure fellow influence-ers.

(Jia you! <-Chinese words "Give it gas!" "Press on!" "Keep going!")

Praise Him

“The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished.” (The Autobiography of George Muller 138)

“Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining.” (Exodus 34:34-35)

“Heaven will be hard and bright, and the winds will be strong. You will have the body and the eyes and the purified, well-aged soul to bear it. We will remake this world with blistered hands. […] When we have eyes that can stare into the sun, eyes that only squint for the Shekinah… ” (italics mine; Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl 154)

He has convicted my soul with the reality that I am a selfish beast. I don’t LOVE people; I use them. I don’t LOVE Him above all, only when it’s convenient and/or necessary.

But I want that to change. I want to love Him (and others) more, more, and MORE. And part of this must be seen in my actions.

Are you ready for not just Heaven, but the NEW WORLD?! Are you ready to labor in His Presence and to see His Face?

He is in control of all things and because of Him all things exist.

God is holy.

God requires me to be holy.

And so, I must be.

How GREAT and AWESOME is He.

May He save many more people from their wretched state.

May He bring many people to KNOW Him and to LOVE Him.

May hearts be turned to repentance!

May we have ears and eyes to see and know.

Only by the grace of God.

GRACE! – Let it flood down.

Lifestyle Challenge

During this month of August I am conducting a “lifestyle experiment”. I want to see how leading a more scheduled and disciplined life affects my life. How does it affect my attitude? My health? My students? My friends? My ability to serve and love others? And, my relationship with the Lord?

Often, it makes me feel constrained, frustrated, and annoyed. But, the Lord has been teaching me and I think my heart is changing.

I have made an outlined schedule for myself. But the schedule (to me) is not as important as completing the tasks, and yet, the schedule is necessary so that I can complete the tasks.

You see, I have noticed that when I choose to be scattered, last minute, and/or lazy rather than planned, organized, and diligent I am often (indirectly) choosing to be self-focused and inhospitable to others. I want this to change.

I always make goals, I always have ideals and hopes, but how often do I consistently pursue and complete them? Why don’t I? I am scattered and lack endurance.

So, what are my goals?:

(You may laugh…another weakness and reason for my failings…too many goals…):

DAILY:

--Memorize a selection of Scripture. (August’s focus is Psalm 29. I have broken it up by weeks.)

--Fellowship with the Lord – in prayer and Bible reading (consistent prayer for others and 3-4 pages of the Bible daily. I will read the Bible, as I like to do, but have failed to attain, in one year.)

--At least 15 minutes of Chinese study. (Will do on the bus ride home from school.)

--Drink 2.5 liters of water.

[These goals are the more flexible "daily" ones...]

--Exercise (This goal has been made PARTICULARLY so I can use some energy and be less energetic in the classroom and…more self-controlled and serious. Truly, I look forward to our wiggle time as much as the kids.)

--Shower.

--Sleep no later than 10:30pm-5am (I would prefer 7 hours consistently.)

--No more than 3 dirty dishes left over night.

--Sweep the public floors.

--Mop up the public floors. (Like wiping off the table, not DEEP cleaning.)

--Read various books on the way to school. (Recipes, rhetoric, human rights, science, philosophy, physics, education, and theology. –I just feel as if my brain is shrinking. It must be strengthened. I am forgetting facts I learned in high school. They must be revived. First, I will attack my stack of unread books sitting at my bedside. Good!!)

WEEKLY:

--Laundry (Saturday)

--Pintai (cooking room -- Sunday)

--Sweep and mop bedroom (Friday night)

--Re-organize (Friday night)

--Bathroom (Saturday)

BI-MONTHLY:

--Clean out cabinets (scrub, throw away food, etc. – This week and the 25^th.)

--Clean the fridge. (shelves, etc. This week and August 18^th.)

I see the trap these lists could be: self-glory and legalism. I am seeking to guard against those, but I don’t think I should stop BECAUSE of those things.

The Lord has convicted my soul in recent days that I have not only neglected fellowship with Him, but consequentially, I have forgotten and neglected the actual PURSUIT and FIGHT for holiness.

Discipline is a piece of holiness.

Structure gives us opportunity to be ready to love people more.

I hypothesize that if I practice these things I can be (better) prepared with a clean home, food to cook, lessons plans that have already been written SO THAT I can focus on the person and not neglect my other responsibilities and/or life tasks (exercise, shower, sleep, etc.)

It will require WORK.

I don’t look forward to that, but that’s the problem. I need to build up my endurance for being disciplined.

I also hypothesize that this will make a difference in the order and structure of my classroom and I need those things to be affected.

We will see how it goes. (True, it has already started.) My goal is August. (Good thing August ends on a Friday. If I plan well Saturday, September 1^st could be a good time to reflect and see how I would like to change and plan for September.)

I look forward to how the Lord will change my heart as I consistently (key word) spend time with Him.

Problems that I see: where have I scheduled time to Skype people and/or to go on Facebook and/or to write friendly emails? I don’t know how to work States people into my schedule.

Cambodia (At Last)

I LOVED going to Cambodia!!!

Do I shock you?

Didn't think so.

Why did I love our time in Cambodia?

Perhaps it's because that is where my heart (seems) to be: poor, hurting, (women and) children. 

Selfishly, many of my "dreams" were fulfilled during the trip. I saw a country where the BRIGHT colors I love were used to paint the doors, buildings, and furniture. The sky was blue, the trees were bright green, the sun was yellow, and (hehe) lots of delicious Western food. (Slight paradox that will be discussed later.) Best dream fulfilled (though not in the country I originally hoped): I visited a VILLAGE!!! (I was just praising the Lord and delighting in His gracious gifts.)

I loved hugging the children. Perhaps even more, I loved making them laugh. I loved making the ladies smile, and I LOVED going to the village!!! I so enjoyed the possibility of flexibility and "ease" (yes) within our schedule. I loved playing the games, showing the crafts, helping the teachers teach, acting in our "dramas", interacting with the girls on our team, and interacting with the people of the country in serving the Lord. 

I was able to use my energy to capture the attention of the various crowds we encountered (we varied from groups of 1 child to 80+ children).

On the more somber side, I profited from and was thankful to see real poverty up close. I have read about human trafficking, prayed for people, given money, made plans to go, visited Skid Row, questioned the reality of the poverty numbers people quote -- and now I know it's real.

Poverty is real.

Human trafficking is real.

Abuse and prostitution is real.

Widows and orphans being exploited is real.

But this is the repeated theme of my observations: no amount of money, social work, health care, or education (all by themselves) will change and heal the pains or problems of this nation.

In fact, poverty is not the real enemy. 

Poverty is merely the distraction.

The real enemy lies inside the soul of each human being; it's sin. 

Sin is the enemy and the only way to defeat sin is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- through the sharing and spread of His Word that is the mighty and powerful double-edged sword.

So, what are the consequences of such a realization?

(What motivates the UN? What motivates humanitarian aid associations? How do Christian NGOs interact in this shared hope for a "brighter future"?)