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| Mother Goose and Grimm comic about "Beauty" |
In the book It was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, there is a chapter on beauty written by Adrienne Chaplin. Within the essay, Chaplin explores how beauty is viewed both by Christians and the art world, and how these ideas are evolving. When discussing how the art world tended to look at beauty through the modernist movement, Chaplin states, "Beauty was associated with the sweet and the shallow and the social status quo...Art was supposed to be challenging, authentic, bold, daring, subversive and, if at all possible, shocking" (33). Many Christians throughout history have also felt negatively toward beauty, often linking it to a sensuous physicality, and viewing it as an "evil planted by the devil to seduce and distract us from higher things" (38). Both these perspectives on beauty approach the subject in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions involve two things that are connected together, but considered opposite, such as black and white, in or out, and young or old. This idea has been used a great deal in literature, and it has been speculated that this kind of pairing may be a part of how humans naturally perceive the world. However, problems have arisen from this kind of thinking, and it has recently come under critique, as people tend to rank one item out of the pair as being superior to the other. This can be seen in issues such as sexism, racism, and homophobia (Study.com). It can also be applied to the discussion of beauty and whether or not it is of worth.
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| A google image search for "beauty" reveals what our current society deems beautiful. |
The binary oppositions for beauty in both Christianity and the art world involve the idea of some sort of truth being above a false idea of beauty. For the church, spiritual truth is placed above worldly beauty, and in modern art, a painfully honest reality is placed above the lie of a nice, wonderful, beautiful world. Indeed, problems can be pointed out with how people often perceive beauty. A google search on "beauty" images shows mostly caucasian women with a great deal of make-up and a fairly consistent, un-smiling facial expression. There are several reasons this interpretation of beauty has a negative impact, particularly in relation to gender and race issues, but the idea of beauty can extend far beyond this. Essentially, whether beauty is good or bad relies on an argument of definition. According to Dictionary.com, beauty is "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind..." Both the church and art have looked at this pleasure as something of a lie, but beauty can contain quite a bit of truth, particularly when one explores the idea of finding beauty in painful moments.
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| An image I drew during a difficult time in my life |
Chaplin discusses this idea when she describes the art exhibit titled A Broken Beauty, which included fifteen artists and works of theirs that explored how, despite the undeniable pain in life, there is simultaneous beauty, even in the worst of moments (48). It can also depend on the viewer and their personal experiences as to whether or not he or she finds something beautiful. For example, I often sketch out my emotions when I am going through difficult times in my life that I am unable to express in words. These sketches do not fit with the more aesthetic ideas of beauty, but I find them beautiful due to their intense personal value. My drawings allow me to release all that I hold in, and they serve as testimony to where I've been in life and where I have come. Many other artists also have works that serve as a testimony to difficult places in either personal or world history, and not all of them are aesthetically pleasing. Still, they show a part of the human experience in a way that connects with others. The feeling of knowing someone's brokenness and touching it with your own can be beautiful enough by itself.
Bustard, Ned. It was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God
Study.com- http://study.com/academy/lesson/binary-oppositions-in-literature-list-of-examples.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beauty
When you talk about binary thinking what you are also talking about also is dualism which is actually something Corwynn Beals talked about briefly when he spoke to us in class. It's not a very nuanced way of thinking, and I don't think has served the Christian community well. An example of this as you are elaborating upon is beauty some how being associated with evil or sin because it is tempting, but clearly that is limiting ones thinking to external and physical beauty of another persons body. Beauty is much more nuanced than that! Your google search clearly shows how limited a search for beauty can be!
ReplyDeleteYour last paragraph where you explore drawing out difficult emotions was nice. As we have spoke about this week art can express often what cannot be said, and there is a truth and beauty in simply stating what is, and having a safe place to vent that pain. Your drawing makes me think of the work of Kathe Kollwitz whose work though often of people hurting is amazing beautiful because she is telling the truth. Maybe truth, goodness, and beauty are all connected. Nice post here.
I had the same issue when looking up beauty, it is, at least in google and by larger representation societies, one view of beauty, one look. This is so drastically false and damaging as I am sure many women, and men know. I love your elaboration into the issue, and sharing your sketch gives a truth and a depth to the blog. Thank you for sharing that with us.
ReplyDeleteYour point about binary thinking was really interesting! I hadn't thought about the chapter like that. I don't know if I'm surprised by the results of your google search or saddened by the fact that it WAS what I expected. Either way, it's a little depressing to see what the word 'beauty' has been distilled and degraded into.
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