news of the local art and poetry scene
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Date: 2008-05-07, 4:05PM CDT
new blog focusing on the poets and visual artists of chicago
http://jane-sayz.blogspot.com/
I have always appreciated found art, backyard art, intentional placement of say garbage cans to be seen aerially, abstract signs that mean something to someone, but only leave me wondering. Perhaps that's why I love modern art installations, haiku and much of modern prose and since I have been reading a book on Christian ( read: Catholic, because it wasn't until the reformation -Dr. Ted calls it something more apt. but I can't recall-we had to distinguish and really all poetry/prose is Catholic, all is either internally or externally driven by it, in argument for, against, or with) poetry through the ages that thankfully and surprisingly is not treacly and made me wonder about Christian sentiment, feeling. The author of the orthodox text argues that poetry did not- GASP- peak in the 13th century, that it has gotten better. I don't know, I don't know enough to say. But I do agree with her statement that we have to speak from our age, that our age is not incidental. This applies personally and universally- youth cannot speak of what they do not know, and our culture cannot be expected to embrace or act outside of it's time.
The Truth though is outside of time, God remains the same whether preached from an Apostle's lips or heard on an mp3. There's the medium and the message. I am sick so I am running farther afield than I normally do, but I was brought here from my friend's blog on non-standard materials used in liturgical art. That made me think about outsider art I adore, like dear sweet Henry and his mammoth book documenting an imaginary but very real war we all must win, the war of innocence against well everything else that drags away from God.
It's an ugly world, but beauty occurs naturally- supernaturally- around us. And the idea of tapping it to adore God, to thank him with his own gift, is the highest flattery. So I went looking for uses of feathers in the Church. My heathen husband has often told me about uses of animal feathers and pelts in the Native American Church ( read: peyote, yes )- I can imagine the Indians that embraced missionaries showed their affection in the form of vestments made from beaver quills etc. I am amused to think birds and bugs were swept away with giant ostrich feathers, made "airborne" by man.
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