Who is the Fairest of them All?

An old German fairy tale by the brothers Grimm reads "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the Fairest of them all?" The wicked step-mother of Snow White would pose this question to her magical mirror, but one day it told her something she did not wish to hear: her step daughter had grown into a beautiful little girl. The wicked step-mother responded by ordering Snow White's death.

Artistry has a way of being our mirror...music, literature, film & games. What man has contrived in his mind has become the stuff of art for centuries; that that era is changing is an interesting subject for further study and debate, but I will assert here as uncontroversial that man's ideology, his religion, his philosophy has constantly borne itself out in the artistic expressions (or reactions) of humanity.

I ask you to consider the idea that if a piece of music or art seems terrible to you there could be a multitude of reasons, but it could be possible that it is just bad art masquerading as good art. That is to say, it is ugly, degenerate, false, evil and/or immoral, and not beautiful.

Art that has burdened itself with the ideological death of man has the same characteristic sound and appearance of despair. The profanity, immorality and outright anti-God rebellion of a great deal of modern artistry reflects this spiritual state of death and defeat.

But before we conduct a book burning (see my first post), we should pause and think a little further. Hitler called much modern art "degenerate"; he was attempting to make modern art into a racial issue. But individuals who painted dadaism or cubism were not somehow physically inferior or incapable of seeing the 'beautiful' or the proper order of the structured world.

There is always a good measure of truth in the lie. The world that Hitler wanted to create was a tunnel vision of the flesh. It could only see beauty in the outward manifestation. Hitler condemned works of art that celebrated things (acts, attitudes, lifestyles) that we should rightly condemn as truly "degenerate", but fear, racism, and the aim of social control was Hitler's agenda. I won't go ahead and presume to tell you what art is and is not good. That would be to miss the boat again.

The problem with truly "degenerate" art is that despair and the sin of the human condition is not represented by images, but by the human thoughts and attitudes that created them; that is, the sin that created them. The demonic power of degenerate art (what I would call "BAD" art) is its propensity to pass on that evil to the receiver.

I do not believe that any picture, story or sound is inherently evil. The physical aspects of smashing a hammer into a man's skull or having a homoerotic adventure are about as evil as having afternoon tea. It is human blindness and rebellion which have the potential to make even the most innocuous of activities into crimes against God.

Surprise! Aunt Maud, that gossiping old biddie at church every Sunday is every bit as bad and worse than the stripper, the drug dealer and the murderer. In this life, we have to establish the guilty act or the actus reus, as well as the guilty mind (mens rea) in order to charge someone with a crime. But before God, and before him alone, the mens rea is enough to die for. (Matt 5:28)

Where does that leave us? The question is, where does your artistry leave you? Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) said we're all in need of different kinds of beauty. (I'll let you read On the Aesthetic Education of Man) I think he's right about that part. What does the artistry you choose to enjoy do with your heart, mind and soul? Don't simply avoid the degenerate, add the regenerate.

Is your art a mirror or a corruptor? First ask yourself if it is only you. "A crooked mind finds no good, and he who is perverted in his language falls into evil." (Prov 17:20). Sadly, we're all like this sometimes, even in the most innocent of circumstances. But if your art communicates something that explicitly motivates, encourages, implies, celebrates or otherwise leads you to do or think evil, maybe its time to throw away that Justin Bieber album. Does the art change you for the better, motivate you to do good or does it dismantle you?

When Snow White finally did wake up and make her comeback, the evil queen got a rather artistic end for her vanity. This should send a powerful message to our youth because yes, she died doing that vile act of dancing with piping hot iron shoes! So there. These days I don't think you'll die dancing, though I'm personally amazed that while doing so more don't get pregnant.

I'm not here to choose your art. I won't burn your books, movies, games or porno mags; but Jesus Christ is coming again to separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the filthy...and the wheat from the chaff. Don't let the page or note dictate to your heart but rather inspire it.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
~Philippians 4:8~

Bob Ross and Christian Existentialism

Who didn't like relaxing to the sounds of Bob Ross' (1942-1995) soothing voice and seeing the amazing transformation of the canvas with some simple brushstrokes?

After watching some videos there's a few things I've gleaned from Bob Ross as I filter them through my own worldview.

1. We don't make mistakes, we just have happy little accidents.

Now right away I want to say, we actually DO make "mistakes", and pretty awful ones at that (Romans 6:23), but if you believe that God is ultimately in control of all history and all events (Isaiah 45:7...amongst many others) and that God has a plan for your life which cannot be thwarted and you are open to this, then Bob Ross is absolutely right. In life, as well as paintings, at a metaphysical level, or a divine level, (in God's eyes via Christ) we don't make mistakes, we just have happy little accidents. (If I might be so blasphemous)

If you make mistakes in life, or on the canvas, don't brood on whats been done. Chances are, you've already learned from it, and better still, its already time to get moving again. You might be surprised what beautiful things can come out of what look on life's canvas to be terrible errors or deviations from "the plan". All things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) God didn't save us so we could beat ourselves up for our lack of holiness, but so that we could share with him the joy of recreating the world in His image.

2. If it makes you happy, do it; and do your best at it, because that is how we make others happy.

Again I can take a bunch of verses out of context and preach some kind of convoluted heretical sermon leading you to moral corruption; but of course what I'm meaning is that the conscience and squawking voices from others can condition our thinking about what we ought to be doing with our lives.

I can't tell you how many times I've read examples of people who have given up everything or taken enormous risks to do what made them happy; and when they did, it made them heroes and benefactors for the rest of humanity and in some cases, great servants of God. This is just general wisdom: don't do something if it makes you miserable. It might sound stupidly simple, but I do not think it a great leap to say that a great many people are miserable in what they do but don't change their job or change their attitudes.

You can waste a lot of time being miserable doing something you hate or doubting something you love. Do what makes you happy, "Lets have a little fun." and do your best at it, and it will make others happy. Don't be ashamed of it. Bob often talked about being who you are when you paint: you have to do the same thing when you live. God made you a beautiful scene. Its your job to present it back to Him on canvas.

3. Beat the Devil out of it!

If you've ever watched Bob Ross paint you'll know that he derives great pleasure from beating the brush after cleaning it in his "odourless thinner". You have to beat the devil out of your paintbrush daily: if you start painting with old colours and the wrong mix, your painting isn't going to look right.

The paintbrush of life? It is the heart. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23

Watch what colours are getting into your brush. The wrong ingredients can choke out the colours you intended.

4. Make big decisions.

It sounded funny when Ross used to say that in his happy little paintings that "we have to make some big decisions here". But this is perhaps the most interesting little effluence from Bob Ross I have ever heard.

There are of course an infinite number of things that one could paint on a canvas. That's scary enough without realizing that one's life is exactly the same conundrum. We don't want to screw it up...so we stop painting. (Or so we think). But you are painting. There's no such thing as not making a choice. You are making a choice: a choice to do something or nothing. Each of these will have consequences. (This is an idea found in existentialism more generally as well)

Make decisions. Sin bravely as Martin Luther said so many years ago. Don't let naysaying prevent you from doing the most outlandish things: so long as you are aware of the consequences, and who you'll have to answer to in the end.

Rejoice young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgement for all these things... (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

While you still have life and breath "whatever your hand finds for you to do, verily do it with all your might..." Whether you like it or not, you're painting your life. You might as well be making big decisions for God rather than letting the world, flesh and devil make them for you.

Lastly: 5. Everybody needs a (happy little) friend.

Don't try to do life on your own. You don't have to have a lot of friends, you just need a few good ones. "A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)

Conclusion

Bob Ross was in the air force for many years, and you might be surprised to learn that his soothing voice, according to Ross's wikipedia article, was once used to ream out air force personnel. You can read the short bio yourself from the link. I can't tell you if Bob Ross was a committed Christian or what he viewed as his happy little accidents in life. I can tell you this much however, that Bob Ross lived for the joy of painting. What or who am I living for, and what am I doing about it?

"God bless my friend, and goodbye for now."

Playing God

I've realized that computer games which engross human beings most do so by creating three things:

1. Creating worlds.
2. Creating purpose.
3. Creating community.

No other media has ever been able to do this so well. With current technology it is not only possible for computer games to imitate the reality of the spatial world, but its size of our planet as well. In addition, the placement of a character within an online community makes it possible for a human being to live out a life within a character which does not, for whatever reason, exist in reality. An online community reinforces the particular purposes of the game, connects minds and grants the ability to create relationships even in the real world.

Purpose in a game can be as simple as the annihilation of all competition to diplomacy to a combination of many different goals or threads.

What world creators will never be able to do however, is copy the infinite, the eternal which is everywhere present in the universe, in each of the said three forms.

1. Spatial infinitude
2. Purpose (meaning)
3. Psycho spiritual infinitude



The universe, I think, could be easily argued to be infinite in its scope. The space of being and non-being cannot even be understood as a complete concept, wherever we go, smaller or larger, further, closer, we are infinitely confronted by the infinite. Before we saw the vast expanses of space, we already had the strange concept of infinity in mathematics. It has not left science as a strange problem. I do not think it will.

Games do something that books and movies do not: they create purposes and meaning specifically for the individual playing the game. But games created by human beings for human beings can never reach beyond the level of the human; additionally, purpose in a game is rooted in the game itself, and consequently goes no further than the game itself and the skill it requires.

Game characters will never expend the character pool of real individuals in the world, nor will character relationships be able to replicate fully the relations of those human beings who exist and interact in the real world. In other words, you are unique, and no matter how many characters are invented, they will never expend the uniqueness of human individuals as it astoundingly crops up from one generation to the next.

My point is not a denunciation of the versatility of games nor a perpetuation of their undervalued status as an absolutely unrivalled artistically holistic art form. Human beings integrate and can modify the gaming experience for their entertainment in such a radical way that it can be nearly unrecognizable from the original party which created the game. Games are extremely 'moddable' - which is what makes them powerful; but it is also what makes them dangerous. Electronic gaming is the most powerful psychotropic drug known to humankind and the greatest distraction from reality ever devised; its capacity to mimic eternity grows with each passing day.

Imitation, it has been said, is the sincerest form of flattery. Art imitates infinitude (that's what we really meant by "art imitates life"). Celebrate art. Celebrate good games like you would good film, good music, good paintings.

But imitation can not only be flattery: it can be supreme deceit. Games aren't real, but they can still take away a life; and a fulfilled eternity.