Posts from the ‘books’ Category
Nov
30
Edward Van Vliet likes to chew long and hard on words, like beef jerky. His words often seem as innumerable as the stars. He is the most frequent commenter on this blog and you will find his thoughts salting the faith and art blogosphere under the name of etechne. Van Vliet is a man of many words, and I wonder if he isn’t obsessed with their power. It is no wonder then that Edward Van Vliet’s current exhibition, Your Thoughts, Like Stars, presents four installations orbiting the power of words and the thoughts they carry.
Anyone who has followed Van Vliet’s work will find familiar images and themes. Books play a large part. Recipe’s For Kneeling, II, revisits the illuminated books and kneeling cushions of earlier installations at The Paint Spot gallery. the space between, a smaller installation, features a single book, half buried, fossil-like, in a mound of glittering sand.The imagery for “The Weight of Things” brings an explosively expanded vision to imagery created for his NAESS show, I’m Not Finished Yet and Whisper before that. Text is again laid over the nebulous wonder of outer space. Edward also returns to his love for viewer participation and feedback, this time inviting his “readers” to create a page for a yet another book by reflecting on the significance of a single block of color (red, blue or green).
While much is familiar, none of it feels repeated. The exhibit as a whole is surprisingly fresh and bold. It is the show one would hope to have evolved and grown from the sprouts of past efforts. Each piece builds upon and enlarges an earlier concept.
Taken as a whole, the show weaves a thread of contemplation, wonder and ultimately action. We are not here to simply look. We are here to think. We should wrestle and, if Van Vliet would have his way, act in some way. Not counting viewer contributions, which continue to increase at this writing, Van Vliet has presented us with 113 “thoughts” in total here. The cumulative effect is both overwhelming awe and the inability to focus in one particular direction. There is a paradox on display. The phrases offered read as timeless truths, and the images Van Vliet evokes, from the expansive universe, the vast seas and countless sand on a shore to ancient books and inverted Albrecht Durer etchings of the Apocalypse, draw us into into a transcendent timeline. But the collection of so many thoughts in one small space feels more suited to the bite sized attention span of internet information addicts. How do we make sense of all this knowledge? How do we catalogue and process the wisdom of the ages? Perhaps this is the thought behind the title for “The Weight of Things”. Are we to view all 100 thoughts, displayed like polaroids, in one go, or are we better to sit with just one?
After taking in the whole, one does well to sit with each part and reflect. I began with The Weight of Things, where “thoughts” are rooted to sculpted bases, white and porous as sand dollars in the sea. The pieces pinwheel out from the center into five tentacle-like arms, also evoking a sand dollar. These arms seem to be moving, reaching to pull us inside, towards some center. Knowing Van Vliet’s faith, I’d guess that centre is the very heart and mind of God. I walked the length of each arm, one by one, letting each thought sink as far as I could in a short span of time. By then end I did feel the weight of things. At times encouraged, at times convicted, each phrase leaves little room for complacent comfort. Some sooth, but in surprising ways. Each phrase and image creates a world we could lose ourselves in. We could dive inside that expansive space and get to work kneading the wisdom of these words into our lives. But, as all to often happens, we must soon change the channel and move on.
I continued to The Art of Kneeling II, where 12 illuminated books hung low, awaiting my kneeling gaze. I approached each cushion and opened covers to reveal beautiful woodcuts, inverted to appear harsh and dark. The covers were notably more drab than those in Van Vliet’s previous show. The images inside have no color or gradation. Black and white alone convey a sense of absolutes. The font used on these pieces feels as old as the woodcuts themselves, a gothic script spelling out messages that are immediately jarring. I am being watched. There is power in my tongue. I begin to feel I am part of the battle depicted in these dramatic scenes of Apocalypse. My actions here and now are tied to then and there. What I do and what I say is of eternal importance, and it also matters today. Twelve is an easier number to digest than 100, and so this piece comes together for me, clearer than whole of The Weight of Things. I feel an urgency.
I move on to the space between, where the focus narrows onto one single book, unearthed part way from a pile of sand, like a fossil from a sea shore. I cannot help but notice the sparkle of the sand, it’s thousands upon thousands of tiny pieces mirroring the titular Stars of the whole exhibit. On the book’s cover a single skeletal torso is overlaid with flaming red and the words “made of earth/made of stars” (the latter half printed upside down and backwards). This piece feels ancient, organic and intimate. Something of our true origin and nature is to be discovered. This torso would house and protect a heart. A heart born of the earth, and yet beyond. A heart to house the countless thoughts on display. Perhaps to act before the tide comes in to wash away this moment. the space between somehow touches me most deeply of all four installations. It somehow gives me hope that I am more than dust.
And now it is time to add my own contribution, as I move to NAME THIS, where I am invited to write my reflections on a primary color. I choose red. I think of the fear and pain and passion of loving. I think of myself undone, broken and transformed by love. It’s a good place for an art show to have brought me.
I leave awash in thoughts of beach, sea and stars. A million points of light that can illuminate as well as burn. A million points of light spanning time and space. Dying out. Being born again. Without seeing Christ, or reading His name, I have been drawn to Him.
I leave in the grip of the Thinker, whose “thoughts, like stars” keep me moving.
Tags: art show, Edward Van Vliet, exhibit, profiles gallery, review, Your thoughs like stars
Posted in Art, Art Shows, books, Essays and Reflections, Galleries, Reviews | Comments Off
Sep
24
You still have this weekend to catch Edward Van Vliet’s installation at the NAESS Gallery in Edmonton. And so you should.
Edward Van Vliet explores "I'm Not Finished Yet"
Van Vliet has returned to the medium he developed for “Recipes For Kneeling”, grafting in imagery from his piece at last year’s “Whisper” art show. Van Vliet creates book-based light boxes, creating a space where light illuminates the image from within the belly of the book, creating modern day miniature stained glass vignettes. The entire work is closed up behind the cover of the book, requiring interaction on the part of the viewer who then opens the book to explore it’s contents.
It’s a thin metaphor, to my mind, of what a book does in reality. Sitting on a shelf it is at best useful as a prop to other books or a decorative piece. Sitting on a table it may provide height or a decent paperweight. It is only through the engagement of the reader that the book gains real value. As we open the book, we are welcomed into a new world. This theme was literally realized in the best-selling Myst video game years ago, where ancient books magically written would take travelers to new “ages”, or worlds within the game. But this is also what books actually do in real life. The best books transport us out of ourselves into another place and time. They carve out a “space in time”, as Michael Card tells us all good art should do in Scribbling In The Sand. Every lover of good books will get this metaphor instantly form Edward’s work at NAESS.
While Van Vliet’s piece takes Marshall McLuhan’s adage, “the medium is the message” to it’s extremes, it goes beyond that meaning with its content. Within each book you will discover reflections on the enormity of the universe and our place in it, through little thoughts and tiny moments. Each image contains a celestial background overlaid with short, poignant reflections in simple black text.
detail from "I'm Not Finished Yet"
One piece proclaims that “you have lost the power of astonishment at your own actions”. Like any good book or piece of art, this statement will take on new meaning with each reader. For me, it is a reminder to keep going and to keep dreaming. It is a prodding away from false humility in the guise of self-deprecation, on towards completing the tasks I was created for. The explosive pink interstellar imagery behind the words points to possibility. This is simply one of the several books included in the installation, and yet if I were to stop and soak in it, I could find many more significant connections to my own journey.
What Edward Van Vliet does with “I’m Not Finished Yet” is offers us “Worlds Within Words“. The fact that these pregnant phrases are packed between two covers of metaphor, then illuminated in a very literal way, helps us get the point. One gets the sense that each phrase really has as much to offer as if it were an entire book, and deserves our time and attention.
Visit Edward Van Vliet’s “worlds within words” while you still can.
“I’m Not Finished Yet” runs until September 25th and is free. NAESS Gallery (formerly The Paint Spot) can be found at 10032 81 Ave in Edmonton and is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 AM to 6 PM and Sunday from noon to 5 PM.
Tags: books, Edward Van Vliet, language, literature, words, writing
Posted in books, Galleries | 2 Comments »
Feb
26
Today is a big day for iloveartists. Today the website for Bridge Songs:Faerie has officially launched!
Bridge Songs is an annual collaborative concert, art show and album centered around a theme and held at the Avenue Theater.
This year’s event takes place on June 5th, and our theme will be Faerie. In the broadest terms, this is an exploration of childlike imagination, wonder and faith as well as the worlds of myth, story and fairy tale. You can read more about the theme, about submitting your art to the event or about attending on the website here.
As a little launch treat, I’d like to share with you a small piece of a long conversation I had last night with film reviewer and storyteller Jeffrey Overstreet. In this clip, Jeffrey reflects on the difference between “childish” and “childlike”, just one of the many themes I’m waiting to see explored at Bridge Songs: Faerie. More clips, as well as the full interview, will arrive on the site in coming weeks.
Childish vs. Childlike
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Tags: Bridge Songs: Faerie, childlike faith, Faerie, interview, Jeffrey Overstreet, launch, wonder
Posted in Artist Interview, books, Bridge Songs: Faerie, Film, Friday Feature | 1 Comment »
Aug
20
Well, here’s one more reason to be excited about Back To School.
In case you didn’t know about it, there’s another EPL book sale coming up. I LOVE these sales. Here’s a blurb from their site … … Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: book sale, books, deals, library
Posted in books | 3 Comments »
Mar
27
You are what you read. Readers are leaders. Yada yada. Clichès that I really believe. Strongly.
I continue to seek out good books to read. I feel I’m in a formation stage in life right now, so the good books, and the right books are becoming increasingly important to me. Here are five links to lists of books on arts and faith recommended by others, ways to acquire books, or single books I’d recommend.
Hearts and Minds Books – Books on the arts
This looks like a fantastic “thinking man’s” Christian bookstore, if you’ll pardon my use of clichè once more. This particular list is connected with the recent International Arts Movement conference, where Hearts and Minds was the bookseller.
Selling Books at IAM: and an extended list of books on the arts at Hearts & Minds Books.
The CIVA Bookstore
Christians In the Visual Arts has produced a list of books that can be found here …
http://www.civa.org/store/publications/books
If you can judge a book by its cover (and title), and I’m a firm believer in the practice, there are some great resources to be had, and all in support of a great organization.
Arts Books from Piquant Editions
Could someone just buy this whole list and mail it to me, please? Some wonderful titles here that make we want to take a reading retreat in a sunny paradise.
View the list on the Piquant Editions site here
Scribing – Andrew Kooman’s Book Lists
For the past few years, Andrew Kooman (writer and frequent commenter here) has kept a faithful list of books he’s read, as well as lists of what he hopes to read. His comments are helpful and the lists have certainly inspired me to pick up some titles this week.
Thanks for putting the time into this, Andrew.
http://scribing.wordpress.com/book-lists/
The Englewood Review of Books
I have signed up for their email updates, and this is a very thoughtful group of Christians reviewing and exposing me to books I’d never have heard of otherwise. Many selections relate to the arts and faith, and their emails often include some excellent poetry.
http://erb.kingdomnow.org/
I’m cheating and going for six, because this one is vital …
The Edmonton Public Library
More than once in the past week, I’ve seen a resource on one of the sites above, or a recommendation from one of you, and immediately hit the search box online. But not the Amazon searchbox, the Library searchbox. They don’t have everything, but I’m currently waiting for my copy of Intruding On The Timeless by Gregory Wolfe (thanks Techne), and reading through Window Poems by Wendell Barry.
In a system as slick as Amazon.com offers (almost), you can search for a title and request it be sent to the Library closest to you. It’s a wonder of modern technology, and as long as you mind your dates, it’s all included for a minimal yearly membership of $12 a year. I may buy many of these titles eventually, but this is a great way to know which ones are worthy of my shelf beforehand.
http://www.epl.ca
BONUS LINK!
You will thank me for this one if you don’t already know about it folks. Why stop at six, when the seventh is so magical?
Books To Buy, the Bi-Annual Library Book Sale!
Twice a year, the EPL sells off a large part of its collection in a massive sale at the Stanley Milner (downtown) Library parkade.
Their 2009 Spring Sale runs THIS WEEKEND (!) – March 28 and 29
Prices
$1 Hardcover Books, CD’s, DVDs
$0.50 Paperbacks, Children’s Books
$10 Bring your own box and fill it (with books only)
This is both insane and dangerous. I’m going.
Get all the info online at http://www.epl.ca/friends/FriendsBookSales.cfm
Tags: books, Englewood Review of Books, Gregory Wolfe, International Arts Movement, Poetry, reading, Wendell Barry
Posted in books, Friday Five, Resources | 7 Comments »
Mar
25
Refractions
A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture
Book Review by Dave Von Bieker, 2009
Grab this as a PDF to read with a coffee in a nice chair
I have often been taught that as followers of Christ our gifts and talents should reflect the glory of God. We are to be reflections of His image. With our little mirrors, our little talents, we may hope to catch some radiant light and focus, illuminating the dark corners of our world. This is a noble goal; and a difficult one. Perhaps, in its’ perfection, it is unattainable because the more perfect the reflection, the more perfect the mirror must be. Free from blemishes. Free from cracks.
But what if our mirrors are broken?
As a mirror, I am no a perfect pane. I am fractures and lost pieces. I am fallen and filthy. I am broken. In my brokenness, I have learned through Makoto Fujimura’s beautiful essays on art and faith that I can refract. And a refraction is perhaps even more beautiful than a reflection.
Whereas a reflection is a mere reproduction of the source light, a refraction breaks that light up and paints it prismatically in every direction. It transforms that light through warped surfaces and fractured fragments, adding color and new forms. Each imperfection gains purpose through refraction. Broken becomes beautiful.
Refractions, the new book by Makoto Fujimura, has left me these thoughts. In reading Fujimura’s collection of essays, I refrained from marking passages and sections for reference and review, choosing instead to let the entire work wash over me. What emerged are themes and impressions, rather than outlines and quotations (though there are certainly words worth quoting, and I may do so still). … Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: blogs, book, books, literature, Makoto Fujimura, Refractions, review
Posted in Art, Book Reviews, books | 3 Comments »
