An Unfolding View of Cultural Engagement

I have been challenged to clarify the issues of an unfolding view of cultural engagement. These issues have resulted from an inherent conflict between one view that advocates engaging culture, and a second view that advocates a withdrawal from engaging culture, even rejecting culture. I posit a preferred, or third view, namely that of informing culture as the real essence of engagement. The inquiry into cultural engagement begins with the metaphor of the Petri Dish, that unique place where cultures are grown, hence its pseudonym, the Culture Dish, and as a place where any engagement often looks and feels more like an unconscious ballet.

            Among respective contributions by other scholars to the discourse and inquiry, I found a rich aggregate of research to substantiate the growth of my views inside the Culture Dish. By examining such concepts as defining culture, Christ and culture, two views of engaging culture, and a third preferred view of informing culture, the tension between the two is resolved in the third, by asking the question, “how should we then live?”

Defining cultural engagement in a preferred view, is to define cultural engagement in a less provocative, non-redemptive way as activities of people, offering a more informed way of clarifying the issues through a new kind of seeing, where things become new by unfolding the issues. An informed culture is a culture that can think critically about the manner in which that culture has been engaged. In defining culture, I submit that it is an ontological and epistemological problem of assumptions about what it is to be Christian. The basis on which such assumptions are founded, especially in the conventional use of Christian as an adjective, is invalid. What is valid, is the emergence of the artist’s role in a technological world, as the artician in ministry, with a prophetic imagination to produce a creative surround within culture. This creative surround can find expression in a stylistic approach such as the narrative manner, a literary manner, or a mixed-style manner, each meant to enhance the artician’s process of communication and processing of positive information, towards a meaningful cultural engagement of knowledge sharing.

As such, research into the issue of engaging culture must aim towards informed leadership, that is, an engaged leadership whose mandate is not adversarial or controversial. It is a leadership in which the artician participates within an informed mandate.

A preferred strategy of informing culture, comprises the unfolding view of cultural engagement as a means to introduce others to the lives we live, whether by allegory, metaphor, narrative, didactic, dialectical engagement, or in a broad context through the expressive arts. The artician’s communication mandate is not one of persuasion or conviction based on the promise of an unforgettable experience, but on the testimony that we ourselves have an account of our unforgettable experience.

Image: “Unconscious Ballet,” No.4 in Series. By Gerrit Verstraete. 2008. Cat. No. 1059. 30 X 22 in. / 76 X 56 cm. Carbon pencil on paper.

The Huggites

I was introduced to this very special faith community in 1981. The Huggites are not to be confused with the Huguenots, who were a French Protestant movement during the 16^th and 17^th century. My spiritual father, the Rev. Bern Warren (United Church) was a Huggite. Every time my wife and I went to his Friday night charismatic meetings (Bezek Centre) in Campbellville, just west of Toronto, during the 1980’s, he greeted us and everyone who was so inclined, with a hug. It was rather amusing as well, because the Huggite’s dance began with one arm up, the other down, in a sort of 1:00 o’clock and 7:00 o’clock position, hoping the other person would have his or her arms in the opposite down/up, 7:00/1:00 o’clock position to avoid an unsuccessful hug. I have been a Huggite ever since, and (with people’s – men and women - consent of course) I have found the practice to be of immense value in the journey of ministry. Sometimes a hug is worth a thousand words.

Cultural Engagement

The history of Christianity has perpetuated two attitudes towards engagement of culture. One proposes a synthetic attitude as a yes to engaging culture and affirming our place in that culture. The other proposes an antithetic attitude as a no to condemn the influences of philosophy, the arts, and the whole of other cultures. Diverse as they may seem, these tensions arise from one basic cause: confusion and conflict over the respective spheres of the religious and the political. What Augustine called the City of God and the city of man, are locked in a worldwide, frequently bitter struggle for influence and power. Providentially I find my epiphania in Paul Jones’ primary condition of longing for a resolution that coalesces around revelation as a self-authenticating experience. Such illumination serves as the centre of a new perspective. Through this new kind of seeing, things become new. And this new kind of seeing is the unfolding view of cultural engagement. Unfolding is both an investigation of the two opposing views of cultural engagement, and the call for a preferred view. That preferred view is based on my distinction between engagement as a cultural mandate for change, and engagement as a communications mandate or strategy for informing culture. It is my position that use of the words informing culture, best describe the concept of engaging culture.

“Two Friends,” by Gerrit Verstraete. 2011. Cat.No. 1196. Graphite on gesso on paper. (21X15 in. / 55.5 X 38 cm )

The Creative Surround

Why do I add images of my artwork to all my essays, papers, and blogs entries? I began doing that in 2009, when I returned to school to do Master’s graduate studies at the University of Alberta. Every blog entry, and every assignment, including my final thesis, began with an image of one of my drawings or paintings. I am continuing “the tradition,” during my Doctoral studies at St.Stephen’s. The reason is to demonstrate the very essence of my research, that is, to propose that art has a positive effect on one’s ability to think critically. It is with critical thought one examines the message of the kingdom of God, and it is through the inspiration and revelation of that kingdom that we purpose to engage the issues of life. In other words, I encourage everyone to surround themselves with creativity, to build a positive construct of artwork and art images to enhance a personal environment for reflection, examination, and meditation. 

“The Embarrassment of Linear Riches,” illustrated in this post is an abstract work of art, drawn in brass point, copper point and silverpoint with a hand-rubbed metal point under-drawing. The work demonstrates an amplified line, as if I imagined magnifying a single metal point line to exaggerated proportions. Yet, in that magnification, I discovered a world of linear and textured beauty, and the evidence of a positive construct, to the point of feeling embarrassed about the simplicity of it all – that is, the richness of a simple line in brass, copper, and silver.

“The Embarrassment of Linear Riches,” by Gerrit Verstraete. 2011. Cat.No.1205. Amplified line in metal point on hardboard, Hand-rubbed brass point, copper point and silverpoint. (48 X 24 in./122 X 61 cm).

The Evidential Power of Beauty

Thomas Dubay wrote in his book, “The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology meet,” (Ignatius Press, 1999), that “beauty is perceived not only from within but also from the outside. However, as useful as technical studies may be for some purposes, we cannot appreciate the enchanting character of beautiful objects by mere scientific investigation, from the outside, rendering the study of beauty singularly devoid of wonder and delight.” As an artist, my experience of inner beauty often begins as an observation of outer beauty, such as was the case when I drew this beautiful young woman, as she walked along the beach. Technically, I did my best to capture the roughness of nature’s forms and lines, but inwardly, I wanted to catch a glimpse of that delicate freedom that made the young woman delight in the cool touch of the sand, yet not wanting to be recognized as she holds a hat firmly over her face. The only clue is a red, circular ornament around her neck. I have met her before, as she has been the subject of many of my “Red Moon Diaries” series of drawings. The drawing bears evidence not just of beauty of form and line alone in “the enchanting character of beautiful objects by mere scientific investigation from the outside,” but as well, of a deeper beauty of relationship as a “wonder and delight” of the human experience. Because it is in the human experience, where as an artist, I find a spiritual wonder and delight that supports the evidence that there is indeed something or someone bigger than I, in this great scheme of things.

.

 “Young Woman with Hat,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 2012. Cat. No.1221. Wolff’s carbon pencil on Stonehenge Paper ( 22 x 30 in. / 56.7 X 76.4 cm ).

Research as Order

Research as Order. It began during the May 2012 Integrative Seminar at St.Stephen’s College (UofA) when my love affair with the Chambered Nautilus surfaced again, as I reflected on the nature of research inquiry. The beautiful shell and I were introduced in 1964, at art college. The Chambered Nautilus is a cephalopod member of the mollusk family (phylum). I have drawn the mathematical perfection and order of this beautiful shell many times, in the form of a (Greek) Golden Section Rectangle which contains the logarithmic spiral, found in natural form in such species as the Chambered Nautilus, broccoli, ferns, snails, galaxy spirals, spirogyra organisms, sunflowers, and others. Tradition followed the linear line of logic. Then came the circle, or hermeneutic circle. But I am considering the logarithmic spiral as a “research methodology of order,” and as divinely proportioned to include an exponential factor in an ever increasing process of data gathering and human experience. This may not sound like narrative, but I assure you the Chambered Nautilus has been part of the story for over forty-five years.

“Two Spirals,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 2008, Cat.No.1093. Silverpoint and graphite. Drawing based on freestyle interpretation of a logarithmic spiral. (14 X 20 in. / 36 X 51 cm)

Back again

I'm back again posting commentary about my Doctoral Journey. During June 2012, my Internet Explorer was unable to open the Blogspot blogs I had created including the Back to School at 65 Blog and the Kog Blog ( it's a widespread and still current problem with Google and Internet Explorer ). After months of trying to fix the problem and unable to add new posts, an online adviser suggested I try a new browser, such as Firefox. And it worked. I had created a new blog in Wordpress, but missed all the entries in The Kog Blog.
So, I'm back in The Kog Blog, and I look forward to sharing the experiences of the journey with you.

Artifacts as Signposts

In the process of constructing a particular research design, the researcher is encouraged to chronicle the discovery of artifacts. These artifacts are the events, moments, places, people, objects, books, memories, and stories of special significance, that serve as signposts to lead the researcher as well as the audience towards a desired goal. One such artifact is a piece of paper that has been taped to my studio wall since 1996. I was an invited guest on a tour bus heading for a mystery destination to surprise a friend for her birthday. Seated next to me was a young man who I knew very well. He was a musician with his own rock band. Our conversation turned towards the personal matter of how to please God with our respective art forms. His was music and mine was fine art. We both agreed the answer was not exclusively in the subject or object of our particular artform. It was neither lyrics nor the visual. The answer was in the pleasure we received by using the artform itself. What this young man said next, became an imprint fixed in my mind and on my studio wall ever since. “When you thoroughly enjoy the creative process in your expression through art, you experience the pleasure of God.” Later, from the book Our Father Abraham, I added these words by Marvin Wilson. “To enjoy is an opportunity to bring pleasure to one’s Creator.” As an artifact, these words, taped to my studio wall, have been a clear signpost to the ultimate goal of excellence in all that I do as artist, researcher, husband, father, grandfather, et al, and that is to do it all for the glory of God.

“Luminata XX,” by Gerrit Verstraete. 2006. Cat.No.807. Gold point, silver ring, graphite on mixed-media ground on paper, mounted on hardboard, with acrylic glaze, tints and metal powder (27 ½ X 18 ½ / 70 X 47 cm ).

Lead me not into temptation

The more I explore the nature and content of my Doctoral studies, I marvel each and every day at the sheer volume of, and ease-of-access, to seemingly endless libraries and other online data services. And I know it’s only the tip of a giant digital and cyberspace technology iceberg. I can now be “in the clouds” without ever leaving terra firma. On my journey as spiritual teacher and artist, I cannot avoid the pressing temptations to be evermore on the cusp of the latest user-friendly, seeker-friendly, and viral strategies, to disciple people and to reach them with my art. But, do we communicate better, or just more? Is social media an oxymoron? Did Jesus mean “follow me on Twitter,” or is there room for a Faithbook to hear His voice? Sometimes the temptations overwhelm me, and find myself in a flurry of signing up and on for every latest app. But, to no avail. The novelty usually wears off in about a month. In ministry, I am very aware that the most recurring problem in relationships is a failure to communicate one-on-one, for which there is no substitute, technology notwithstanding. I seek solitude in my studio and once again find my friends, the humble pencil, a sheet of Stonehenge paper, and my silver and gold stylus to do a metalpoint drawing. There is no app yet to sharpen my pencil and stylus. I am on my own. Lead me not into temptation Lord, to presume hearing You is a complex technologically challenging encounter.

“Living Bones 4: the ecstasy of line,” by Gerrit Verstraete,2012. Cat.No. 1212. Silverpoint on Museum Board mounted on canvas board ( 28 X 22 / 71.1 X 55.5 cm ).

A bird with broken wings

April 2001: I began a series of drawings that marked the first time I had ventured deep into my own soul to express emotions associated with seeing a friend depart for Europe. Not only was she a friend, my wife and I counseled her for six months, as she "rose from the ashes" of a broken life in which she lost everything: a husband who deserted her for another woman, plus all her possessions, and a house by the ocean. She came into our lives as "a bird with broken wings," and she rose again healed, strong in her faith, and determined to get up and start again. I wrote about her experience in a poem. A month later, I felt inspired to express the emotions and thoughts of that poem into a series of drawings. The drawings sold and regrettably, I failed to take photographs for my archives. Yet the healing memories are still vivid over ten years later. It wouldn’t be the first time I experienced the healing blessing of creative expression such as in the similar series titled: “Soulscapes.” Perhaps Sallie McFague’s concept of a “new sensibility” for a contemporary theology could include a creative expression of Paul Jones’ “Theological Worlds,” through art – an art of the spirit that heals.

“Soulscape 1,” by Gerrit Verstraete. 2001. 17 X 25. Silverpoint and graphite on metalpoint ground on dark grey paper (images for “Bird with broken wings,” were not available – “Soulscape 1,” followed the “Bird with broken wings.”)

Lost and found in Cathedral Forest

The drawing is one of many ink drawings I completed in Cathedral Forest, a grove of ancient old-growth trees some dating back 1000 years. It’s located about twenty minutes northwest of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. I go there often, especially during the off-season when the forest is quiet. I have a choice to make. Do I stay in the carefully kept pathways that lead from the parking lot to the most obvious of tall stately trees, or do I follow narrower unmarked trails that lead to some surprisingly sublime places, some as small as a rivulet of water coursing among moss-covered rocks, or the impressive height of a tall Douglas Fir whose wood content is enough to build 2 two-storey houses? It’s not difficult to get lost once you are tempted to follow a trail to its origins deep in the forest. But, a keen sense of direction gets me back to the parking lot. Such is the case of examining the dilemma of humankind and the promise of resolution in context of a complex forest of many trees that represent the divergent worlds of systematic theology. Each author has a unique story to tell about a very personal journey through the worlds of theology and experience, such as Paul Jones in his book, Theological Worlds: Understanding the Alternative Rhythms of Christian Belief. Without question, a stately commentary among the many other trees of conventional and not-so-conventional systematic theologies. But, I am forewarned to keep a keen sense of direction, namely that the entire journey begins at a profound centre. That centre is Jesus Christ.

“Cathedral Forest,” from the series by Gerrit Verstraete. 9 X 12, brown ink on paper.

I love maps

My father, who was a master bookbinder, collected beautiful National Geographic maps. He bound a handsome portfolio for his maps and one day he gave me the portfolio. Mapping remains a source of discovery and inspiration. During my advertising agency years, I mapped many a creative and marketing strategy. In my studio, each drawing and each painting is a map to lead the viewer and myself from one place to another, whether abstractly or representationally. Ministry is a map that leads from promise to deliverance, from forgiveness to healing. Undergraduate and graduate studies have been expansive maps of knowledge management and knowledge creation. Communication is a map to bring a relationship forward from the early stages of contact to mature stages of fellowship, with the promise of uncertainty reduction en route to fulfilled and loving relationships. The Bible is a map of God’s Master Plan for life. Life in the Spirit is a map for learning to trust the voice of God as I venture along the “highway of holiness” towards greater freedom. One such map has become a passion I cannot contain. It’s the map of the Kingdom of God, a profoundly experiential journey that offers laughter and tears, and with each step the glimpses of the kingdom become a vision, a greater revelation of the incredible destiny that lies ahead.

“Cerulean’s Map,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 30 X 22, 2009. Cat. No.1133. Metal point media on ground on Stonehenge Paper ( 76.4 X 56.7 cm ).

Cerulean's Odyssey

Cerulean’s Odyssey is a narrative, my narrative, woven into the fabric of an epic poem, written in a conceptual style, begun in 2004 and nearing completion in 2012. Comprising over 23,500 lines and 127,350 words, the account is one man’s journey towards that elusive “city not built with human hands.” It’s a personal journey of faith that has often left the long distance voyager rough around the edges. For the quest is not easy. Cerulean is tempted from within and from without. Often he feels alone only to discover he is not. In the balance he weighs the gravity of reason, logic, and the written tradition, with the oral tradition and the experience of faith. His travels have taken him to distant places beyond horizons of reality, with emotions stretched to breaking and his will challenged at every step. Such has been the essence of my journey of life, and as age 67 dawns, I recognize the “good fight of faith” is not an epic battle between opinions, dogma, traditions, and doctrines, but a battle within. It’s a battle for the mind that touches the core of the human spirit. Yet, deep inside, faith assures a glimpse of the outcome, and my spirit is flooded with hope. Much depends on where I stand in the battle. Hidden among the tall grass and looking up at a fleeting sky, or among the clouds from where life looks like a mosaic of possibilities. It’s a choice Cerulean must make every day. And when he encounters those among the tall grasses, and his and their edges are somewhat rough because life is not a flat line, he at least can say, “I know of another view. Care to have a look?”

“Touch Me,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 30 X 22, 2010, Cat.No.1178. Mixed media acrylics on Stonehenge Paper. ( 76.4 X 56.7 cm )

"Real People in Real Time"

“Real people in Real time.” As I examine and contemplate the Kingdom of God course readings, I am reminded that the essentials of ministry are inclusive of “real people in real time,” a word-to-the-wise given to me by a fellow Canadian drawing master. It remains the subject of my early Monday morning off-island ventures to Tim Horton’s in Nanaimo (or wherever I travel) to sketch (almost incognito) coffee shop people. I just finished Volume 17. Volume 1 began in 1997, and to date I have over 10,000 faces and people. These are of the same kind of souls who I am privileged to disciple on a weekly basis, and most recently in our island fellowship, to introduce them to a preaching series I’ve titled: “2012: How shall we then live?”

A page of Coffee Shop People, 6 x 8 1/2, Volume 10, by Gerrit Verstraete.

Disclaimer

I add to the autoethnographic construct of my Doctoral studies the experience of having taught this Kingdom of God for nearly three decades, resulting in a narrative where the lines between scholarly writings of others and my own are often blurred. Perhaps a weakness in critical analysis of content, but the original intent of teaching the Kingdom of God was my response to a call to ministry, with no intentions at the time of pursuing Doctoral studies. However, I do claim that despite the potential inability to properly source all my teachings of three decades, I rest assured that through a continuum of personal experiences, my words have been tried “as silver in a furnace of the earth, refined seven times,” (Ps.12:6).

"Deux aux croix," by Gerrit Verstraete, 2010. Cat.No.1166, 14 X 17, acrylic on vellum ( 35.7 X 43.4 cm )

Keynotes

Keynote 1: The synthesis of experience, grounding, study, necessity, practice, application, calling and theology, is the artist as artist-historian, keeper of history, and gatekeeper to the apocalypse of the Kingdom of God, as essential to ministry through the intersection of art, critical thought, and the Kingdom of God.

Keynote 2: The structure of this synthesis will focus on the proposed Hybrid Tetrad: a dialectical model of art, critical thought, and the Kingdom of God, as a ministry tool for discipleship. This hybrid tetrad was first created as part of my Master’s graduate studies in communication and technology, and adapted to the current DMin. Dialectical Model.

"Rachel in Sanguine," Cat.No.878, 18 x 24, 2007, Classical drawing by Gerrit Verstraete. Sanguine oil pencil on Gesso with acrylic colour on tracing paper mounted on Stonehenge Black.