A goodbye of sorts...

As of March 8, 2013, I am leaving this blog to continue with the blog I started at the beginning of my journey (2009) of going back to school at age 65. I will leave my posts in The Kog Blog up for a while, but if you are interested in following my journey through graduate research, I invite you to pick up the narrative at "Back to School at 65" - www.backtoschoolat65.blogspot.com

Evidence of Beauty

Even though this evidence has been presented before, it has been more subtle than self-evident. Since beginning my research in 2009, for my Master’s degree and from there towards a Doctoral degree, I have prefaced every essay, every paper, and every project and thesis, with a visual artifact from my personal artwork collection of drawings and paintings. No explanation for the artifact was given in the said essay or paper except for perhaps a brief reference if such were required. Nevertheless the purpose of these artifacts has been to demonstrate the power of art to draw attention to an idea, or in my case, to draw attention to the subject of the writing at hand, and to offer an aesthetic experience. In this manner, I set out to demonstrate the use of visual language as integral to my long term goal, that is, the inquiry into the experience of spiritual ministry at the intersection of art, critical thought, and the kingdom of God. In every case, people have validated the utility and acceptance of my unique, unifying and comprehensive approach with which I have drawn attention to the writing submitted.

“The Evidence of Beauty,” The Silverpoint Metaphor by Gerrit Verstraete. Generative Works, Luminata Series, 2003. Luminata No. 1. Cat.No.337. 33 X 21. Silverpoint & graphite on mixed media paper with silver enamel spray.

Continuity

I realized I had not posted anything since November of last year, when I was busy exploring the meaning of engaging culture. Somehow time just fell through gaps in the Christmas holidays and into the New Year, and here on the west coast there are rumors of an early Spring. Sounds good to me. I was contemplating the nature of my continuum as I geared up for an appreciative inquiry into my methodology, that is, the research design and methodology that will carry me to completion of my Doctoral degree. That was when a little note posted on my studio wall, caught my eye. I had written, "you must draw continually because you need to, and that will help you draw when you want to." It didn't take much to transfer that thought to writing, which is a major component of my research. And thus it reads, "I must write continually because I need to, and that will help me write when I want to." But, my need is not a burden. I love to write, as I love to draw and paint. And so, the New Year began with a return to writing my fourth novel, an historical novel of WWII that I had begun early in 2012. Within days, the continuum kicked in, and I found the process of writing fiction in complete harmony with writing academic papers, especially when I am prompted to add a good piece of narrative to my research papers. Just as charting or mapping the events of WWII lends credibility to my novel, so the mapping of the methodology of my research is similar to exploring a family tree. If I display a hit of excitement about the continuum, I am.

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).