A Question of World Views
The world view of different cultures as seen through the eyes of popular artists (some users may need to scroll down to see the remainder of the post):
The point? The worldview which gives rise to a popular artist like Dali is deeply distorted.
Post-modernists have claimed that a religious culture distorts someone's view of the world. Just to look at the art, it would seem that an anti-religious culture distorts the worldview. Later artists show a loss focus, or a loss of the sense of beauty or reality. Finally artists like Dali actually prize deliberate distortion (for its novelty or boldness, or breaking the old tired cliches of the dogmatic and rigid past, of course). It's all very intersting and fun as an experiment. (For the record, I actually enjoy the "melting clocks" ... but not nearly as much as El Greco's works.)
The same trends can be seen in a culture's scholarship, but the trends are perhaps seen most clearly in a culture's art. The "melting clocks" reminds me a bit of the Jesus Seminar's view of the gospels.
Note: Typically we have not posted graphics to this blog. If the graphics load too slowly or cause inconvenience, please let us know in a comment.
The world view of different cultures as seen through the eyes of popular artists (some users may need to scroll down to see the remainder of the post):
| El Greco |  |
| Van Gogh |  |
| Dali |  |
The point? The worldview which gives rise to a popular artist like Dali is deeply distorted.
Post-modernists have claimed that a religious culture distorts someone's view of the world. Just to look at the art, it would seem that an anti-religious culture distorts the worldview. Later artists show a loss focus, or a loss of the sense of beauty or reality. Finally artists like Dali actually prize deliberate distortion (for its novelty or boldness, or breaking the old tired cliches of the dogmatic and rigid past, of course). It's all very intersting and fun as an experiment. (For the record, I actually enjoy the "melting clocks" ... but not nearly as much as El Greco's works.)
The same trends can be seen in a culture's scholarship, but the trends are perhaps seen most clearly in a culture's art. The "melting clocks" reminds me a bit of the Jesus Seminar's view of the gospels.
Note: Typically we have not posted graphics to this blog. If the graphics load too slowly or cause inconvenience, please let us know in a comment.
Comments
Do you think Christian concern for reality arises from our faith in a God who sets a firm foundation of reality?