I woke up this morning with Jackson Pollock on the brain. Granted, this is not normal--I'm awake WAY earlier than I need to be, and it's not typical for me to wake up with art on my mind. Given recent craziness and circumstances, I can see where this is going. According to Francis Schaeffer, Pollock's paintings were a deliberate statement that "all is chance. He placed canvases horizontally on the floor and dripped paint on them from suspended cans swinging over them. Thus, his paintings were a product of chance."
Francis Schaeffer was one of my first introductions into the world of art and philosophy. I'd never really thought about how art; to me, at that point in my life, art was simply someone's coloring book. You'd see a pretty picture, you'd paint a pretty picture, and voila! Art! Through Schaeffer, I began to understand that every single piece of art is a portrayal of a personal and cultural philosophy. I've never been bored at an art museum since, and it's the artists like Pollock that are my favorite.
By studying art, we gain a very clear perspective on the timeline of philosophy in society. When you look at art, you see when God began to be replaced by humanism, materialism, capitalism, and so much more. I remember going to the Louvre when I was 15. I was at a point in my life where I hadn't learned anything about art, and sadly, it was almost a wasted experience. I spent more time freaking out that the Mona Lisa was the size of a piece of paper, than I did admiring the phenomenal pieces that I was surrounded by.
One particular painting sticks in my memory. I have no idea what the description of this painting says. I've always thought it was the most amazing painting, and it's not even in a style that I like.
It seems to me, to be totally Christ-focused, and even as a teenager, I found a lot of joy in seeing that on the museum walls.
It's always struck me as interesting how a museum hosts such a wide variety of philosophies under one roof...from Pollock's beliefs that we're all based in cosmic chance, to Restout's desire to celebrate the day of Pentecost. What's interesting to me, is that Restout's painting was in 1732. Pollock lived from 1912-1956, so you can see how 200 years later, there's been a massive change in the dynamic. In the 1730's, the first Great Awakening took place in Britain and North America, so there was a huge return to spirituality as Restout made his mark; Pollock was painting his major works in the wake of the Great Depression, so there was a huge dark cloud over the nation.
Schaeffer puts it this way: "The historical flow is like this: The philosophers from Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Kierkegaard onward, having lost their hope of a unity of knowledge and a unity of life, presented a fragmented concept of reality; then the artists painted it that way. it was the artists, however, who first understood that the end of this view was the absurdity of all things." The philosopher said it first...the artists painted it...the artists were the only ones who understood that humanism ultimately leads to chaos and heartbreak. Schaeffer discusses fragmentation (Picasso is a great example, especially when you realize that though Picasso's the most famous for his fragmented style, when he was painting pictures of the people he really loved, he painted them fully and in clear interpretation) and "absurdity" in art, and how it projects the continued fractured belief systems in the world.
When you look at these paintings and sculptures, suddenly the ridiculous becomes heartbreaking...
Ever wonder why in the world a bicycle tire welded to a bench is considered "art?" Or, how about this:
Artists always seem to be on another level, and many of them will say, "what do YOU see when you look at my art?" The belief is that they create, and we interpret, and that's the beauty. I believe their intentions are very, very clear. I think a lot of modern art comes from a very sad place, and most of it doesn't make me feel very joyful. There's a lot of shock value, and very little substance.
When art focused on the spiritual...when it reflected a more Christ-centered and broadly accepted philosophy...it seemed, well, happier. I think that art is an excellent barometer to the beliefs of the day...
Granted, Dan Brown would probably read a blog like this and eviscerate me with his interpretations of the feminine mystique and oppression of the Church in earlier paintings, and with regards to certain artists, he has a valid point, however, there is no question in my mind that art today tells the tale of a society in peril.
Over the weekend, I have seen videos of both a 16 year-old, and a group of 8 year-olds wearing next to nothing and gyrating on a dance floor. The news is full of stories of sexual perversion, child abuse, and a blatant disregard for the quality and meaning of life. And, if you're Jackson Pollock, you are completely unaffected by these stories.
If you're Jackson Pollock, and "all is chance," then why does it matter? We are simply the cosmic collision of a few molecules that exploded and happened to produce life. We are an accident.
And accidents do not have value.
Accidents are not worth protecting.
Accidents are not worth saving.
"All is chance" sounds an awful lot like a philosophy that has taken over our schools and destroyed the sense of self-worth that children used to be taught...
I was raised to believe that I was created by a God Who loves me.
I was also raised to believe that God most certainly "meddles in the affairs of men," and I honestly don't believe anything is ever "chance" or coincidence. He has a plan...
Schaeffer sums it up beautifully, regarding Pollock and his swinging paint cans/philosophy of chance: "Wait a minute! Is there not an order in the lines of paint on his canvases? Yes, because it was not really 'chance' shaping his canvases! The universe is not a random universe; it has order. Therefore, as the dripping paint from the swinging cans moved over the canvases, the lines of paint were following the order of the universe itself. The universe is not what these painters said it is."
We may try to say God doesn't exist...we may try to say that moral issues really don't matter, and it's all just a cosmic accident. We still have hearts, and we still have an inner moral compass, and there is no "accidental" explanation for that. Much of the world has bought the lie, and is in the slow process of stifling their inner convictions...
Chaos and heartbreak...
When we understand that we have a Savior Who loves us...when we understand even a tiny bit of Who God is, and what He can do in our hearts...it is a light that explodes through the smog and confusion of "chance."
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