Society, religion and the Human Condition

The meaning of life , the origin of life and the cause, nature and purpose of the universe , human nature ,ethics , devotional and ritual obervance and the moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. These are universal aspects of the human condition and the foundations of religion.

Tristan Griffin , a third year art student majoring in sculpture at Murwillumbah Tafe Colledge, has spent the first semester of 2014 exploring the relationship between religions , contemporary society and the human condition through a series of sculptures.

Students were presented with the units, Originate a Body of Independent Creative Work

, Evolve Ideas for Professional Creative Work and Originate and Develop Concepts and were asked to conceive, develop and realise three sculptures in Semester 1 working on an aspect of the human condition.

Griffin believes it is essential that an artist’s work reflects their heart, it comes from what they know , the things that are important to them in their lives , their beliefs and personal taste. Their best works will be those that resonate with what they think, do and say in their lives.

So It was natural for Griffin to chose Religion as the aspect of the human condition as it is such a large part of my own life. He serve as a Deacon at C3 Kingscliff , a progressive pentacostal church , and participates in many related events in the community. By making contemporary religious art griffin is able to open a dialogue with his viewers enabling him to share the good news of the gospel and scriptures with a broader audience.

Alan Kaprow’s essays into total art have influenced Griffin’s choice in majoring in the field of sculpture. Kaprow suggested that art had the potential in not only acting as a “mirror of time” but to allow the viewer to experience it by use of space, time, sound, smell and light. Griffins attempts to apply this ideal while focusing on grab factor , sound concept and technical competency.

Griffin’s work has been aesthectically and conceptually influenced by artists that delt with the existential aspects of the human condition such as Antony Gormley , Ron Mueik , Lindy Ivemay, Bill Viola and Damien Hurst.

Antony Gormley, Bill Viola and Ron Mueik’s exploration of the human form and human condition informed Griffin’s approach to his art making him aware of the importance of scale, form, spaciality and the potential to make “an attempt to materialise the place at the other side of appearance where we all live.”¹

Antony Gormley and Lindy Ivemay’s diverse approach to representing the human form both with the displacement and sculptural construction as well as texture and surfacing have transformed Griffin’s technical approach to portraying the human form. Jeff Koons and Damien Hurst’s approach to their practices , with both taking advantage of 2D and 3D disciplines led to Griffin choosing in his own practice to use whatever medium that strengthens the artistic concept he wishes to portray.

Griffins research during 2014 extended into contemporary Christian religious art , which proved difficult as there seemed to be a trend among the painters to focus on abstraction and expressionism with focus on traditional Christian images ie the cross. In the sculptural field there were even fewer examples with many “Christian” works being made by non believers, for example David Mach’s sculpture entitled Die Harder

.

David Mach , Die Harder , sculpture

“When was the last time you saw an explicitly religious work of contemporary art? Odds are you can’t remember. If you can, it’s because it will have stood out like the Pope in a brothel. Religious art, when it’s not kept safely confined within gilt frames in the medieval departments of major museums, is taboo.”²

Art that is religious is different from art that is talking about religion. For the sake of argument religious art needs to be art about that religion and preferable the artist making that work needs to believe in that religion

. Art that is talking about religion is acceptable, often adorned with a vestment of anthropology or social science.

Even established artists such as Bill Viola and Damien Hirst face opposition when dabbling in religious work. Bill Viola says “some of the critics just went crazy... here I am a contemporary artist... making a work about a catholic saint”³ ,when talking about the title of his piece titled room for saint john of the cross .

Bill Viola , room for saint john of the cross , installation

Andres Serrano , Piss Christ ,Photography

One of the most well known and controversial example is Piss Christ , a 1987 photograph by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine , aluding to the effect commercialism has had on the catholic church.

Traditionally there has been emphasis in religious art on the depiction of the story of Christ and the apostles. But very little emphasis on the application and understanding of the scriptures themselves. Griffin’s work is focusing on the lessons that were being taught in the scriptures. Lessons that “produce love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control.” ⁴

An artists that was Christian and working with religious art is American painter Thomas Kinkade (1958 - 2012). Thomas Kinkade Rendered his paintings in highly idealistic American scene painting values, his works often portray bucolic, idyllic settings such as gardens, streams, stone cottages, lighthouses and Main Streets and also depict various Christian themes including the Christian cross and churches. The fine-art world overwhelmingly derided Kinkade's work as little more than commercially successful kitsch.

Kinkade said he was placing emphasis on the value of simple pleasures and that his intent was to communicate inspirational, life-affirming messages through his work. A self-described "devout Christian" Kinkade said he gained his inspiration from his religious beliefs and that his work was intended to contain a larger moral dimension.

Thomas Kinkade, along the lighted path , Painting

After facing difficulty finding Christian artists , Griffin focused his research into meta narratives , seeking and finding answers.

Grand narrative or “master narrative” is a term introduced by Jean-François Lyotard(1924- 1998) in his classic 1979 work The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, in which Lyotard summed up a range of views which were being developed at the time, as a critique of the institutional and ideological forms of knowledge. Post structuralist writers such as Jean Baudrillard(1929 – 2007) and Michael Foucault(1926 – 1984) discussed futher the Postmodern Condition.

Jean Baudrillard wrote that we live in a media dominated world and meanings are mediated for us. Lives gain meaning through consumption and we ‘become’ products” , this can be seen with artist branding and commercialism.Foucault wrote Truth is relative and gained through a societal process known as a discourse ,for example the nature of femininity has been a social discourse of the late C20th and the view has shifted.

The church system has been struggling in the face of the The Postmodern Condition , many traditional churches have seen their followers numbers dwindle where as charasmatic churches, such as the Pentacostal movement, have flourished as they reflect contemporary society.

The critical questions in faith has shifted from “what is true? To “What makes me feel good”

It is accepted that the societal effects of Post modernism, deconstructavism and Post Structuralism can been seen everywhere and religion and society have become dichotomous. We live in an age of independence , an age where “meaning and truth is created”⁵ by the individual , morality is relative , perversions celebrated and personal choice rules .

We live in an age where Religion is seen an oppressive bureaucracy and No religion has the right to pronounce itself right or true. religion is broadly seen today by many progressive thinkers to be a cause of intolerance and war , faith-based political fanatiscism , backward-thinking attitudes to women or sexuality and having moral contradiction to the ways people want to live their lives.

For Griffin the Post modern condition created a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless and absurd world. Contemporary art ,as it thrives on the questioning of current ideas and trends , acting as a visual stimulus to contemplation , allowed Griffin to grow in his faith and share it with others in a way that is relevant.

Its not easy to make work about what you believe in , especially when those beliefs are in opposition with societies beliefs. For Griffin “an artist isnt paid for his labor, but for his vision.” ⁶ and “Vision is the act of seeing what is invisible to others”⁷ Hold onto that vision and do not allow lables (such as painter or sculptor) to stop you from pushing and searching new pathways of expressing your ideas simply because they have never been done. In doing so , you will be able to re-define the labels and yourself as an artist.

1 Antony Gormley

2 frieze magazine , Believe it or Not 2010 by Dan Fox

3 Bill Viola , Cameras are soul keepers , video

4 Galatians 5:22 GNB

5 Richard Rorty

6 James MsNeill Whistler

7 Johnathan Swift