monday mixtape: [the art-in-community edition]
i chose a theme and mashed together some writing and other favorite art on the theme!
track 1: the teaser
track 2: notes on a theme
(excerpt from lessons from camping, part two 07/09/07)
So, while we were sitting around the campfire the other night, soaking up the intimacy of the crackling fire and the quiet storytelling underneath a starry and expansive sky, my friend Scott wrote a new song. I don't mean he got out a pen and paper and a rhyming dictionary. I mean he started playing a tune and singing lyrics that had never been sung or played before in that same composition in the history of the universe. I wish I could remember the tune and the lyrics -- all I can remember was that it was a simple, cozy poem of gratitude for a happy day with good friends.There is something especially profound about creation that happens in community. Creation that reflects the DNA of a particular group of people experiencing a similar story in one season in time. It could be a weekend camping together or a lifetime of living together in the same neighborhood. This week's mixtape is inspired by examples of art that springs up from the ground of community.
And if I could have recorded it I would have. But not because I think it was worth a million dollars and would go to the top of the charts. (although that may have happened...my friend Scott is pretty good)
The impact of the song was deep because it recorded the moment we were experiencing together. It translated what all of us were thinking and feeling into a tune and a rhyme. It was an utterance of words that we could not express fully, but the song came pretty darn close. It was a creative response to our glad Creator.
track 3: links
- A Commune Grows in Brooklyn at Curator Magazine
- Downtown Fullerton Art Walk at PAS (Project Art School)
- Building A Better Bird House at Better Farm
track 4: Art Show on Main
The bi-annual art show I curate at our church is always a combination of art coming from within our church community and art from outside our church, our greater artist community in the city around us. Each year we hope to cultivate beauty and community by making and appreciating art together. We made the decision to move this to an every-other-year event this year. It's been five years since I've had free time in October, but I'll be glad when next fall gets here! I've blogged lots of posts about this: here, here, here, here, and here.
Art Show on Main 2009: Closing Recital with Scott & Kim LaGraff
track 5: "In Three Years" project
I've been following the work of Sojourn Visual Arts (Louisville, KY) for awhile now. I'm ultra-impressed with the innovative projects produced by this art/faith community (directed by Michael Winters). This particular art-in-community undertaking involved the Sojourn artists spending time with some of the homeless in their Louisville community, listening to their stories. Specifically, what would they like to see come true in their life in the next three years. The artists then drew the dream in chalk and composed a photograph of the dreamer interacting with the chalk drawing. Collaboration on so many levels makes my toes tingle I love it so much!
"In Three Years Linda Wants to Write a Book"
(photo credit: SojournVisualArts.com)