Art

I have never thought of myself as creative in art mediums and thus know little about art. Tonight a friend asked me to go to a lecture at the Art Museum of South Texas, mainly because Fr. David Stringer (my priest and spiritual director who is leaving) was the scheduled speaker who would relate Taoism to the present exhibit of Tony Feher, whose biography describes him like this:

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas and living in Albuquerque, Tony Feher moved to New York City in 1981, and has devoted himself to mixed-media sculptures that celebrate everyday products and disposable goods. With an aversion to symbolism beyond what 'you see', he is fascinated by the 'ordinary' and makes sculptural arrangements that are hung from the ceiling and stacked on the floor with found items such as metal cans, straws, bottle caps, fruit crates and plastic grocery bags.

I knew nothing about the artist until we arrived at the art museum, where we were told that Fr. David had suddenly gotten ill this afternoon and could not come. The majority of the audience were from All Saints Episcopal Church, and a few left when they heard this. The assistant curator gave an interesting introduction, which was followed by a video of the artist and this exhibit. As the biography states above, Tony Feher absolutely asserted that he uses NO symbolism.

If you click on Tony Feher, you will see to the left, pictures of the exhibit he created for the architectural space of that specific gallery. There are about 600+ blue sacks in the room, with lots of string and plastic water bottles. My immediate reaction was skepticism, but as I wandered the room and then sat down and looked up at the blue baubles in the peaked and windowed ceiling, I grew to appreciate the colors more.

Was this appreciating "art"? I don't know if it is "art," but many contemporary art critics think it is.

Then we were taken to other walls that had pink pieces of tape placed sporadically--also placed on many walls. This was to honor past exhibits. I guess he had put a piece of tape over a hole or nail or whatever had secured the past exhibits to the wall. A few people gazed from different angles at these pieces of tape. I couldn't see anything else but tape marring the walls. (You can get an idea of how the walls look by going to the site and gazing at the bottom picture.)

As the curator and another artist were orating about contrast and many artistic terms I am unfamiliar with, I felt bored. I tried to pray the Jesus Prayer. As they got more and more esoteric, my friend approached me and asked if I wanted to leave. We left with several other people.

What has prompted me to write was how the last bit of the talk went before we left. There was a conversation about "sophistication" needed to appreciate this type of "art." I inferred that these "experts" would say that my dislike was based upon ignorance and immaturity and that I was not qualified to have an opinion. I resent that, but also do not have the confidence (due to my lack of art education) to go against "experts."

This is showing me how I have a pattern of reacting to authority figures. I assume that I don't know as much, even though I am intelligent. (I think this is why I have always loved books so much--to learn more and more, because there is so much I don't know.) Early in my faith journey, I was afraid to suggest alternative viewpoints, because how could I know, being so new to Christianity? I felt this way when I first went to seminary, only to be surprised that I was always one of the best students, especially in writing papers. My gut reaction in new situations is to assume I don't know as much as others and to doubt myself. This is the observation about myself.

Now an observation about human behavior: As a group, we like to be "right", while the others are "wrong." When there is no space left for other opinions, as judgments are made, people are excluded and marginalized. That happens when "fundamentalists" talk, but also when "liberals" discuss ideas. When some people are upper and others are lower; when we think in dualistic terms--good/bad; right/wrong; saved/damned--there is not a level playing field. Where can we find the agreement in our humanity? How can we learn to share without feeling threatened?

To live in the attitude of "Bless them, change me" is the attitude of acceptance and detachment. First, I need to accept myself and then I won't feel so threatened by others. That prayer is what I need to pray whenever I feel "less than." Then perhaps, I will be brave enough to speak up, knowing (!) that my opinion is valid--it could be factually "wrong," but I am entitled to express it. Things are not always "right" or "wrong," but just exist.

"Bless you, change me." O Lord, change me into the "me" you want me to be. Help me to realize at this moment that that is who I am.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For another perspective on Tony Feher's exhibit, go to Ron George's blog New Lectionary Notes
and see his post:The Tao of Tony Feher--This will give you the opportunity to see what the gallery looked like with the blue sacks. Ron describes things in a more appreciative way, which helps me open more to what I remember seeing.