Literature goes beyond books
Photo: Hannah Cole
By Hannah Cole, Literature Columnist
I love the idea that art is, in part, literature. It is visual imagery that relays a story to the viewer, and good art acts as well-written literature does: it makes a person want to look closer, to read closer, to delve into the work that is before them. Literaturic art intrigues people and prompts them to consider what story it tells.
The concept of good Christian art has been on my mind these past couple of months. This idea ties into the article I wrote a few weeks ago on what makes good literature, but it touches more on the importance of creating good art as members of a Christian community.
Right before spring break, I, along with other students in the English department, attended a conference in Minnesota. There was a church across the street from our hotel, and it had a sculpture in front of it that really intrigued me. Finally, I went and I looked at it up close. It was made of geometric shapes and lifelike figures of humans stretching their hands skyward. The visual of the figures connected by the curved shapes left me nearly speechless.
I learned later that the sculpture is called "The Birth of Freedom." Galatians 5:1 was inscribed on the stone below proclaiming, 'For freedom Christ has set you free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.'
The verse, though powerful, wasn't the focal point of the piece; if someone wasn't looking very hard, they wouldn't even know the verse was there. The words weren't necessarily the point of the art instillation, the work itself was. I couldn't put my finger on what it was about that church's sculpture that struck me as so different from other religious art I had seen, until a few days later, when I thought, 'It's good art. That's why it's different.'
Sometimes we can be scared (and I put myself in this category too) to make good art that pushes the boundaries of what's accepted by a larger community. Such as with the sculpture outside of the church, it shows naked human forms, but the piece as a whole is not offensive, and the choices the sculptor made are deliberate to the end he had in mind. It tells a story; it captures people's attention.
Sometimes literature is most affecting when it isn't trying to fit into any particular structure, when the voice of the work isn't forced. As we head into the last few weeks of our semester, this can be an encouraging point. We shouldn't be scared to pursue what we are passionate about, and no matter what sort of expression of literature and story we create, we should do it well and enjoy it.
For those who are curious, the church I am referring to is Westminster Presbyterian in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The church has its own art collection, and emphasizes the importance of art to their faith and their services on its website.
In its description of the Westminster Collection, the website closes with the following:
"A beautiful piece of art is pleasing to the eye and soul. Sometimes sad and ugly stories need telling and they might be disturbing and uncomfortable. These scenarios share a common goal: to capture attention and to elicit a reaction. Sometimes thinking is more important than liking."
To visit the church's website and learn more about its dedication to art, click here.
