nevermind the bricolage

Catastrophe, Chaos and Complexity

I can't remember where I first came across Mark Tansey's painting but I have been influenced, or at least helped, in my thinking because of it. Tansey's works are monochrome and not realist by any stretch of the imagination. I use pictures a lot, both in presentations I give, but also as a device to spark and spur my own thinking, I always have. In fact, finding ways to blend my interest in imagery, theology and communication has been a bit of a quest and Tansey was one of the catalysts in that. Perhaps because his art explores similar territory and interests. This was the case for Mark C. Taylor, when he discovered Tansey, so much so that he wrote a book, The Picture in Question: Mark Tansey & the end of representation, which I am reading right now. It's a great read. I'm a fan of both men and although there are no images in the book (the story of why is dealt with in the preface). Tansey mkes a great statement about Tansey's art early on, he says that "living with Tansey's pictures has opened new ways for me to think through old preoccupations," love that line, it explains the entire book and why I resonate with it so deeply. I think that is what images help me to do most of the time--they become portals if youlike, to new ways of seeing things and thinking about things. Of his won work Tansey says,

New Book

My book came out on March 1st--Entertainment Theology: New Edge Spirituality in a Digital Democracy--it's about all kinds of stuff--looking for connections, intersections and interconnections between various elements and artifacts of contemporary culture, and how it is that the religious impulse manifests in the digital age--a thought/theology experiment--the beginning of a conversation, not the end.

New Christians and the Third Jesus

This past week a couple of books came across my path. One of them deals with the topic of what is happening in churches around America and alludes to 'new things' happening. The second is Deepak Chopra's new book, The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore. It occurred to me as I was thinking through some of the materials that you won't really get 'new' Christians until you get a 'new' Jesus. Chopra's view is that there have been two Jesus' so far--the historic, human who walked the earth, the second, the institutional Jesus, property of the Church largely understood through doctrine and dogma. He writes that this Jesus leads us into a wilderness with no clear path out. He adds to these two what he calls, the 'third Jesus'--the mystical Jesus, who comes to lead us to god-consciousness rather than to any particular religious position. I don't agree with everything Chopra writes, and many of his concepts are things I don't really use anymore (his continual use of the idea of the subjective soul for instance),  but I do like his idea, and it resonates with me deeply. I have been saying for a while now that the thing that really needs to change is the message/story/narrative the church, or lots of christians anyway, work from--the message is flawed, or if flawed is too harsh term, then linked to other times and spaces, and this story doesn't necessarily connect so much anymore with the many people who are actively seeking some understanding or connection with the sacred. Chopra's characterization of the 'mystic' Jesus is another way of broaching the topic I think, much clearer than mine, but we are in similar territory I think. Chopra went to Catholic school as a child, so Jesus and the scriptures are not unfamiliar to him, and he handles the parables and the like with ease and familiarity.
  I mentioned this book in my class and was quite surprised at how few of the students had heard of him. It reminded me that we tend to live in very narrow worlds when it comes to our religions, seldom reaching outside the boundaries of our own theological comfort zones to see what else is going on. Chopra is a pretty well-known figure in contemporary society and I think we should at least take note of what people are saying. His opening chapter begins with the sentence, "Jesus is in trouble." Some might argue the point, I would say that followers of the second Jesus are in trouble--Jesus seems to have been picked up by lots of other people lately, all of whom seem to be pretty happy encountering him again.

For The Love Of God

Damien Hirst's diamond encrusted skull has generated an awful lot of press since it's showing at White Cube last year, mainly because of the cost--anywhere between $50-100 million, or maybe it's pounds, but you get the idea. The talk about the cost was distracting really from yet another piece of art by surely one of the best contemporary artists around. Hirst has mined the history of art and particularly latched onto symbolism, and much of it, the symbolism of religious art. Skulls have often been used as a means of contemplation.
'The making of the diamond skull,' is a book that gives the reader a behind the scenes look at the process of creating what is surely set to become of one art history's great moments. There are so many issues a piece like this raises--not the least of which would be the relationship between art and commerce, but the book focuses principally on the making. The book features an essay by art historian Rudi Fuchs, medical and dental reports on the skull, and a long look at the creative process. It is a great way to 'contemplate the skull' and rethink its meaning perhaps. Hirst's drawings of the piece, which include inspirations such as a skull with turquoise Hirst saw whilst in Mexico, and directions unfolding as the work moves along, give an intimate look at the artist's personal connection with the piece. Fuchs says that, "The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. I tend to see it as a glorious intense victory over death"--if that is not a ticket to a great theological conversation I don't know what is.
It is not a big book, but it is a rich work on many levels.

Thought Experiments

I got a copy of my forthcoming book in the post this morning. I wish I was more enthusiastic about the 'look'--but there was not much I could do, the book is part of a series and certain design parameters were already in place, but it is a bit frustrating, particularly when I had some pretty strong ideas for it, oh well, maybe next time. The book is called, Entertainment Theology: new edge spirituality in a digital democracy--long enough?? It's a 'thought experiment' as far as I am concerned, a way of processing some ideas that have been floating around in my head for a while that I wanted to move beyond. I never view writing something down as a sort of final statement about an issue, I like to think of it more as a means of processing theories and thoughts and seeing where they end up. As you can probably tell, this will not be a systematic theology book! Just a look at some of the cultural landscape that I think is reshaping the way many people think and practice faith. As I looked through it this morning I saw some things that I can't say I am really that committed to as much right now--that is the downside of writing-a moment in your theological journey gets set in type and speaks back to you--it also proves my theory that when you put something into some form, written, sung, whatever, you can carry on with your journey a little lighter.

After God...Again

After God, after religion, after Christianity, after this and after that. 'After' is definitely the  word to have in a book title right now. I am happy about all of this because I have been working 'after God, religion, Christianity and everything else' for a while now in my attempts to come to terms with belief in my time and in my own life. The latest one down the pike is Mark C. Taylor's, After God. I am going to offer four statements from the introduction, if they don't whet your appetite then don't bother with the book, if they do, cough up the cash, dig in, and then maybe let's talk about it.

Shopping For God

I've always enjoyed James Twitchell's take on the advertising industry. I have used his books quite regularly both at Fuller and at the Art Center. His roots are in English Lit., he teaches English at a University somewhere I believe, but has had a growing fascination with the way advertising functions in society. His latest book is a blend of two of my own interests--advertising and religion--and it seems he shares similar interests. I should say up front that this is not a book about God/faith/religion/spirituality/belief/doctrine/church etc. it is about the marketing of religion in the 21st century. Some readers will not like what they find here, because he argues basically, that the growth of interest in religion, the rise of the mega-church and the flourishing of Christianity in American cultural life is not a sign of another "Great Awakening," but rather the canny use of marketing and advertising by the church. The book's subtitle gives it away really: How Christianity went from in your heart to in your face. He also reckons that the lack of interest in Christianity in Europe is because of a failure in marketing. If any of this interests you I would recommend a read, Twitchell has an interesting take on the way advertising functions in society and combined with the religious element it makes for enlightening reading.

Soul/No Soul

The great thing about academic books is that there is little creativity when t comes to titles--they just tell you what the topic is and away you go. Nancey Murphy's contribution to the Cambridge Univ. Press Current Issues in Theology series is titled, Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? Not exactly an attention grabber, which is a shame because the subject matter here is pretty bloody interesting. Murphy, who teaches at Fuller, has crafted a wonderful piece of work here exploring concepts of spirit and soul and asking whether we need to hold to them in a postmodern world. Her answer, not surprisingly, is no, she is a non-reductive physicalist, and as such doesn't believe in concepts like soul and spirit, arguing that they are merely ways in which we explain what have now, for the most part, been determined to be neurological functions. The non-reductive part of her view is the important part, this allows for a view of the sacred, God etc. The most compelling part of her book for me was when she posited that a different view of the soul would have led to a very different incarnation of the Christian faith. This gives me much hope for faith in the coming decades.

Galleys

I just got the first galleys to my forthcoming book. It's going to be called, Entertainment Theology: Exploring Spirituality in a Digital Democracy--I was pitching for a slightly more challenging title--New Edge Spirituality,which captures the ideas in the book a little better I think but that was probably a little too much for the publishers to cope with. Anyway, I have some corrections and clarifications to get done over the next week or so. The book is about the way popular influences, shapes, and contributes to contemporary approaches towards religion/spirituality/faith/belief etc. I have created a few rubrics which offer some way of collating and introduce a few ideas (rhyzomic sacralization for one) for understanding the shapes and contours of the religio-social landscape. It is falls mostly in the sociology of religion realm but the last part offers some critique and opportunities for christian spirituality/ies--there will be some stuff to talk about if nothing else.

Hunting The English

Apparently A.A. Gill doesn't like the English very much, and he has written a scathing but very funny book about us. I have laughed in agreement since I read the book cover blurb. According to Gill it is anger that both defines and drives us. Anger is the source of our creativity, our hymns, our language, our manners, and pretty much everything else that makes us English.
"A simmering, unfocused lurking anger is the collective cross England bears with ill grace...It's why they can't dance or relax...It's the daily struggle of not giving in to your natural inclination to run amok with a cricket bat, to spit and bite in a crowded tearoom, that I admire most in the English..." You get the idea, page after page of why and what we are angry at or about. It is funny, a little sobering, rooted in nothing but the opinion of the author and self-admittedly a book of prejudice--and I love every page. As an Englishman I can safely say that anger is always close to the surface of who I am--I seethe, rage, boil, rant, rave etc.---all beneath my skin which is of course, couched in cordiality, politeness and general good manners. If you're English you should read it, if you're not you should also read it so that you can understand who we are---The Angry Island: Hunting the English, by A.A. Gill--smart bugger.