ART AS IDEA
The hostile takeover bid for the creative world by the intellectual forces within our culture, which probably began with the work of the French surrealist Marcel Duchamp (the exhibition of his common ceramic urinal credited to R. Mutt in the 1920’s), has nearly been completed with the international art scene for western-based art, placing ‘art as idea’ as the new cutting edge of art practice.
read moreTHE ROLE OF THE ARTIST WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The urge to create, to bring something new into the world we inhabit, is an essential part of our human nature and of our need to express ourselves both as an individual and as a member of the wider human family. For most this manifests itself as the drive to create new life in the form of children and families. For others it means to maximise the resources we have and create new understandings and possibilities for life to prosper which didn’t exist before. This happens within the sciences, invention, engineering, design, building and farming or gardening. And for others it is the urge to express yourself; your inner-self, in music, word, image and form and in doing so capture a personal creative vision and perhaps the aspirations and cultural life of a generation.
read moreCONSTANT CRAVING - THE SEARCH FOR THE BEYOND INTRODUCTION
I am always intrigued with the passion and effort people put into searching for intelligent life beyond earth and the physical evidence of ‘extra-terrestrial’ visits here in space ships. Despite the flurry of activity and interest in this area, I suspect something deeper is going on here and that more is at stake than may first seem apparent.
read moreANATOMY OF A COMMISSION
CENTRAL CRUCIFIX COMMISSION - HENLEY BEACH PARISH SOUTH AUSTRALIA -- In the past, an artist working professionally for the churches would have been the norm, in fact, this relationship was crucial in the development of the careers of many of our culture’s greatest artists. Unfortunately in this century the relationship between our leading artists and the churches has, in the main, broken down and both groups have pursued different paths. The glories of religious art of the past which fill the pages of European art books, are now only faded memories. Although some important religious commissions have been given to leading artists of the twentieth century, on the whole no coherent body of work, which could have a significant presence within contemporary culture, has been either commissioned or produced.
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