Finding God in Abstract, Absurd and Postmodern Art
- Drew Goodmanson
- Jun 21, 2004
- Series: Art
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The other day a few of my friends entered into a lively discussion, one of those ‘deep thinking' moments you don't have every day. What started out as a simple discussion of bands that sing ‘screamo' (see side definition) where the singer's words and lyrics are unintelligent. A few people said these bands were not really ‘artists'. It was through this conversation, discussing the absurd creations of artists (blank walls, urinals, soup cans, unintelligible yelling), that we began to dialogue about ‘what is art'.
What is art? At what point can a toilet go from being 'just a toilet' to 'art'? Let me give you my definition of art: Art is whatever someone consciously calls, ‘art' . That's it. That is the definition in total. For example, if I cupped my hands together and held nothing but said what I held in my hands was ‘art', than this is art. Now, before you think I am nuts, let me make one point of distinction. It is at this point than we can critique the artist and determine the value of the art created. This critique is far more important than calling the work art or not.
I believe this is the definition of art, because it is in this very act that we demonstrate we are beings created in God's image. Just as God spoke the universe into existence, he allows us as His creation to also have dominion over all living things that are created. (Genesis 1:26-28) He gave man the responsibility to name all living things. (Genesis 2-19:20) What separates us from animals is that we have this image-bearing gift from God, where we go beyond primal instincts and can reason, create and express our thoughts and feelings. So when we name something ‘art', it is ‘art'.
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Screamo is a sub-genre of emo best characterized by the intense use of screaming. Examples include search for The Assistant, A Days Refrain, Orchid, or Fall on Deaf Years.
[A]n art work has value as a creation because man is made in the image of God, and therefore man not only can love and think and feel emotion, but also has the capacity to create. Being in the image of the Creator, we are called upon to have creativity. We never find an animal, non-man, making a work of art. On the other hand, we never find men anywhere in the world or in any culture in the world who do not produce art. Creativity is a part of the distinction between man and non-man. All people are to some degree creative. Creativity is intrinsic to our mannishness." -Francis Schaeffer
Art is "the work of men's minds and hands." While nature (as God's gift) provides the raw materials for human expression, culture is that which man produces in his earthly setting. It . . . "includes the totality and the life pattern--language, religion, literature (if any), machines and inventions, arts and crafts, architecture and decor, dress, laws, customs, marriage and family structures, government and institutions, plus the peculiar and characteristic ways of thinking and acting." -H. Richard Neibuhr
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Let's look at the example where I cupped my hands and said that I held nothing, but inside my cupped hands was my ‘art'. So, in this example, because the only thing I contributed or created was the comment “What is inside my hands is art” and my hand movement, I brought very little creativity into the final product. In fact I would say my art was really just ‘performance art' in that it existed and consisted in my comment.
For other ridiculous examples, Martin Creed the acclaimed 2001 winner of The Turner Prize for new art, ‘created' an empty room where the lights would go off and on every five seconds appropriately titled, ‘Lights Going On and Off”. Martin Creed also created the art to the right, his works shown are titled 'a doorstop fixed to a floor to let a door open only 45 degrees' and the second is ‘a sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball'. Now before you say “it is absurd that a common piece of paper crumpled in a ball be called art", we must realize that many of the objects we identify as art today, such as Greek pottery, were made in times and places when people did not consider these art either. But clearly they are considered art today. Art is in the eye of the one calling it art.
Going a step back to 1917, we can examine the work of Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp purposefully attempted to demystify art and worked to change the definitions and eliminate the boundaries of what was considered art. One of his most famous works is The Fountain was a simple urinal (see image). This began a growing trend of artists moving from creating a work that communicates by what they have created to communicating through the observer's reaction to their work. Duchamp and Creed's work centers on the desire to communicate their philosophy through our experience.
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So now the toilet, the paper, the open door is art but what is the value of the work they created? What did they really do that was artistic? These artists creatively called simple objects ‘art' and put them up for critique as such. We react to this absurdity, which is part of the artist intent. Most of the value is not in the physical objects, but in the absurdity that he is calling these art. I would say that these pieces of ‘art' require little talent; they did almost no creating, so this art is of little value.
Now we all can run around claiming anything we want is art. (By the way, this article is art) The real discussion begins in examining the value of each piece of art. We must engage art with a critique that allows us to call some art better and others worse. It is a lie to say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Our God is a god of order, unity in diversity, He is truth, He is holy, He is a god who intricately wove the universe together, who brought colors and shapes and sounds into existence. As believers our participation in the creation of art holds a greater responsibility because we know truth. The more we desire to bring glory to God and reflect these attributes, the more value the art holds. So if you desire to create art, you cannot fully develop as an artist without 
learning about God himself.
In his book, Art and the Bible, Francis Schaeffer provided four criteria for looking at art which were:
1) Technical excellence – We can praise the artist for their technical excellence even if we disagree with their worldview.
2) Validity – Is the artist being true to themselves and their worldview or are they simply making art for the money or to be accepted?
3) Intellectual content, the worldview which comes through – What is the artist's worldview and how does that compare to Scripture?
4) The integration of the content and the vehicle – does the content of the art suit the method that the artist has chosen to present the content
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For the sake of brevity I will submit what I believe is the two core areas of value. First, intrinsic to the object of art and in the creative process there is art that is either beautiful or is ugly. Secondly, there is value in the reaction we have to the art itself. For example, a photo of war and death would have a low intrinsic value because it contradicts who God is and death/destruction is not beautiful. But under the second value, the reaction to the cost of war demonstrating the fallenness of man holds value, because it is making a statement of truth about the horror or destruction in war that is against God's nature, so this art, in its reaction, is worthwhile.
As believers we must look at the nature of who God is to critique art. It is when we mirror God closer that our art is of higher value. As artists emerge and use the reaction of their work to advance a secular philosophy it is important that Christians understand, evaluate and interact with art. Hopefully as a community of believers we can now take our role of critique seriously. We don't need to be held captive by absurdity and postmodern relativism. We do have a God that by understanding His nature we can learn about what is beauty, what has value and what is true. It is here as a community sent by God that we must speak and critique the artists of our day.
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