Contemporary Sacred Art, the good, the bad and the ugly.

website correction:
www.thesacredarts.org

A very interesting site.
THE FOUNDATION FOR SACRED ARTS
www.the sacredarts.org
Be sure to go to the PRESS link and watch the video
"The World Over"

Eucharistic flash mob...a brilliant idea that took it to the next level that will grow and bring more to their knees. Next, let us think maybe in terms of sacred art flash mobs roaming urban centers of the world creating instant SA , and why not combine.

Not about Art, but rather the Sacred, exhibited in a public space:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ5aYoSr3Hg

I am sure she will get the opportunity. It is refreshing that she wants to give her art away. Either great marketing strategy or God's grace for a wonderful creative future. The Church needs young artists. Giving her support would be a good thing.

Bad Catholic is one of my favorite blogs to follow and through that I found a link to this extremely talented (IMHO) young artist who sketches the baby Jesus and Our Lady.
I think she could make some excellent Sacred Art if given the opportunity,
No 4000kw lighting or trees doing the high-wire act, but rather Art that looks like the BVM and Jesus.
http://artlikemorality.blogspot.com/

I agree than just about anything can be taken by an individual as being sacred, however the Catholic Church isn't a collection of indiviualists as it is a Communio, hence what becomes Sacred Art for the glory of God and His Church isn't the quite the same critter as what I may hold as "sacred" to me and me alone, although the poster may well help me to recollect the awesum reality of the Sacrament of Reconcilliation, it is effectively merely a commercial and little else.
Counter that with the Virgin of Guadalupe which Don John of Austria kept on the bulkhead of his cabin---an image of the Mother of God from a distant hemisphere no less! Something that is worthy of veneration . Something Sacred on a far more grander scale.
I don't think a poster, no matter how clever like the 4,000kw confessional, has quite the same gravity (but of course I could be wrong!)

This is a conundrum, Hovannes. A cool poster hung in someone's home can be an object of devotion and daily contemplation, but it wouldn't exist without the original work from which the image was made. The coolness is irrelevant, only how the image is used. The poster becomes sacred art by the way it is viewed.

It is wheels within wheels, of course, and there is no right answer to any of this. Sacred art doesn't only belong in churches, but also where people consider the sacred and take it into their hearts, i.e. at home where their faith resides and is nurtured on a regular basis, and also in public, where an artwork can refresh their faith when they come across it.

Wheels within wheels. Is it the artist's intent or the audience's that determine if something is sacred? I tend to side with the audience, but I can't discount the artist's intentions, being one. I suppose it all comes out in the wash. I would rather try to influence the viewer to consider a piece of art sacred, but really, in the end, I have no control over it. It could be used (unlikely) in a beer commercial. As long as it is seen, it may have its intended effect. I pray for the best.

With a handshake,
WK

FWIW the image of the Confessional with the 4,000KW lights would make a cool poster, but not a "Sacred" one, IMHO. I do hope they eventually unplugged the lighting and re-Installed a Priest though!

Excellent points, WK