It is gratifying to report that an article I wrote appeared in the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Aquinas Institute of Theology’s Signatures magazine. (In the interest of full disclosure I must note that I am presently in graduate studies at AI.) You can find the article online here (it begins on page 9 of the PDF file).
I was invited to write on the intersection of art and religion, drawing on my experiences working at MOCRA. Had I been asked a year prior, I would probably have written generally about the museum’s mission and the ground we’ve covered in our exhibitions. But coming on the heels of MOCRA’s Good Friday exhibition, I knew just where I wanted to go with the article.
“The Presence of God in Art” describes the power that Good Friday held for several groups who engaged with the art as a form of theological reflection and prayer. Over the course of almost 15 years I have given presentations to dozens of groups of all ages and from all walks of life. Often the observations made, and the discussion they spark, can be quite revelatory, both about the work of art at hand and about the people making the remarks. However, there was a marked difference with the group discussions that took place with Good Friday.
An explicit invitation to approach the art in an attitude of meditation or prayer seemed to unlock a door for a number of our visitors who, even in a group setting, were willing to make themselves quite vulnerable in sharing their reflections about the art. These discussions also left me feeling more exposed than usual in my role as docent/moderator, both in receiving the visitors’ observations, and in leaving my accustomed “neutral” stance regarding the work to express more openly some of my personal responses.
I invite you to read the article and share your responses. For instance,
- If you saw the Good Friday exhibition, did you experience responses similar to those I describe in the article?
- Does the idea of approaching art this way leave you feeling ambivalent or even opposed?
- Could (or should) something like this take place in a “public” art museum?
- Or do MOCRA’s particular mission and setting on a university campus give us latitude to do things other institutions can’t safely attempt?
- Given that Good Friday has a clearly Christian point of departure, and that the groups I described were coming from a standpoint of Christian faith, is this sort of exhibition and approach to art transferable to art from other faith traditions?
You might reply to this post, or you can e-mail me through MOCRA’s website. If I receive enough interesting responses, I’ll incorporate them into a future post.
– David Brinker, Assistant Director
The principle at hand
Today I am at MOCRA. This is my 42nd day of work in row.* I am tired, but happy. This type of work in the arts is incredibly important to me. The Cosmic Tears exhibit is a good one and Michael Byron will be speaking about his work on November 15th.
A few weeks ago, two men entered the museum and began looking around. The taller of the two asked me if I was an artist. I said yes. He said that he and his friend were both former students of Michael Byron. We then began discussing the two statements that Byron wrote to go with exhibit:
Cosmic Tears
The Universal Principal upon seeing its Creation, realized
the potential humanity could exert on the world. The very
thought caused a torrent of the tears – one for each man, woman,
and child. Each tear contained all the joy, pain, and sorrow each
person’s life would hold. To this day a cosmic tear is shed at the
birth of each child. It is the womb of our psyche. Our task is to shape that tear into
Meaning.
And on the opposite wall it reads again with a tiny change:
Cosmic Tears
The Universal Principle upon seeing its Creation, realized
the potential humanity could exert on the world. The very
thought caused a torrent of the tears – one for each man, woman,
and child. Each tear contained all the joy, pain, and sorrow each
person’s life would hold. To this day a cosmic tear is shed at the
birth of each child. It is the womb of our psyche. Our task is to shape that tear into
Meaning.
"Michael Byron: Cosmic Tears," at MOCRA, Fall 2009.
We talked about the definitions of principal and principle. We wondered about the words that were obviously purposefully capitalized. We then concluded that there was something intentional about the isolation and capitalization of “Meaning” at the end of the statements. We decided nothing concrete, but the conversation was enjoyable.
To me, I see a hint of Buddhism when I think of the bittersweet birth of a child. It is a happy occasion, but there is also sadness for me. I know the potential suffering that awaits the child. Buddhists wish to end human suffering and it seems that with each birth inevitably come more suffering and pain.
I am happy at the coming birth of my little girl. I am also worried about the pains life holds for her. Is this a cosmic tear? Or is this a cause of the tears? I think I see what Bryon is saying here…
– Bob Sullivan, Museum Assistant
* Not all of them at MOCRA. Bob has a busy teaching schedule as well! — ed.