continuing to make my way through
Merton and Buddhism, in particular his experiments with zen calligraphy, a number of questions formed in my mind not entirely unrelated to the dialogue which took place over on
Echoes not so long ago. namely, what difficulties and challenges are encountered in the act of creating sacred art? further, how aware of the space in which the art is to be present must the artist be? is it possible (or even necessary) to develop radically new approaches to sacred art inside a tradition that already has well-established and effective means? is it valid for someone outside a given spiritual landscape to create sacred art specific to that tradition? and how wise or effective would it be to adopt forms from within one tradition to employ in another (or employ divorced from any tradition whatsoever)?
i certainly don't pretend to have any answers other than ill-formed and unexperienced opinions. i know for example, my feelings towards the plethora of
new age mandalas is somewhat dubious. i imagine that in part this is due to their seeming largely if not wholly divorced from the manner in which mandalas originally were and still are construed and practiced in the context of ritual (and this form is not limited to Vajrayana but has also been employed through the form of Yiddam in the Vedantic faiths and practices).
i don't wish to suggest in giving this example that i believe sacred art must necessarily be limited to the tradition from which it arose. i do believe however that if the act of creation is divorced from the appreciation, understanding and respect of the context in which such a form arose then what we are in danger of being left with is snake-oil. perhaps fashionable and appealing snake-oil but snake-oil nonetheless.
namu amida butsu
Hi Jon, Thanks for raising these further interesting questions born out of our dialogue at 'Echoes...' Regarding your last paragraph I would just add the caveat that not all that is created "divorced from appreciation etc." is snake-oil, it may just be kitsch. It becomes snake-oil when it is commodified.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note it is interesting that whilst a kind of naturalness and lack of calculation is, I think, required to produce good art, the sincerity and grounding of the artist is in itself no guarantee of their having any artistic ability. I would assume that the majority of devotees of any religion worship before a great many objects and symbols that would be judged artistically deficient by a craftsman or artist skilled in that particular medium. However whilst bad art can disrupt religious practice, often that doesn't seem to be the case.
Gassho, K
Hi Kyoshin, thanks for the caveat, i agree.
ReplyDelete"I would assume that the majority of devotees of any religion worship before a great many objects and symbols that would be judged artistically deficient by a craftsman or artist skilled in that particular medium."
this is interesting as it creates more questions for me - on what grounds or criteria is sacred art judged as efficient or deficient? would there be any similarity with the criteria used to judge art outside of the sacred? or would it be an entirely different set of criteria altogether?
thanks for getting me thinking :-)
"what grounds or criteria is sacred art judged as efficient or deficient?"
ReplyDeleteI guess if it throws you out of or distracts from the ritual framework it might be considered deficient. Whether or not that happens though could be down to the subjective experience of the individual. We also have to consider that sometimes a break from normative iconography can itself lead to powerful experiences. A lot must depend on the way in which the icon is related to ... if it is just a point of focus that is filled by the numinous during the process of engagement then any object might do, but if the specific details and imagery of the icon are critical to the process of engagement such as in visualisation exercises then the precise nature of the icon would be more important. ??
Incidentally our Sensei once told me that he didn't used to much relate to the rupa at our dojo as it hasn't got Japanese features but over time he has come to treasure it.