Spirituality is something I’m not too familiar with but it is something that I would say is quite similar to the idea of a soul. There is no doubt that everyone has their own spirit/soul. Both a spirit and soul cannot be seen nor controlled, however an individual can do things in order to connect with it.
For example, Grey introduces the ideas of chakras in this unit’s reading. There are seven chakra’s going down the center of the body and Grey states that these chakra’s are supposed to “mediate the energies of the auric bodies that surround and interpenetrate the physical body” (2001). Each chakra describes a different psychological worldview that goes from a material level to a spiritual level. The seven chakra, also known as the “crown chakra”, is the goal of yoga – the union with God (Grey 2001). This is the union of the highest spiritual source which means that an individual’s entire being is unified; which includes physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Another way that artist’s use spirituality is to see. In this unit’s reading, Grey also talks about Saint Bonaventure’s three eyes of knowing:
- the eye of flesh sees the “outer” realm of material objects
- the eye of reason sees symbolically to draw distinctions and make conceptual relationships
- the mystic eye of contemplation which is able to see luminous transcendental realms
Grey states that, “artists need to be able to see on each level in order to bring technical beauty, archetypal beauty, and spiritual beauty to their work” (2001). Artist may use these three eyes in order to build their artwork from a muse or evaluate and understand another artist’s artwork. This was very interesting and obviously the use of the three eyes of knowing is not exclusive to only artists. I believe that all viewers of art should utilize the three eyes of knowing in order to evaluate and understand works of art, just like artists do. Maybe if more people knew how to use the three eyes of knowing, then more people will be able to appreciate art in general. I feel as if art is a very complex subject. There are many artworks that people look at and just think “What is this? What was the artist thinking?” – they just don’t connect with the piece and don’t understand the underlying meaning that the artist was trying to convey to the viewer.
References:
Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.
For me defining spirituality was difficult for me because like you I am not a spiritual person. More specifically, it was very hard for me to narrow it down to single definition. I myself think of spirituality as something very broad and endless, but when I read your first paragraph saying, “There is no doubt that everyone has their own spirit/soul. Both a spirit and soul cannot be seen nor controlled, however an individual can do things in order to connect with it”(). I found this to be such an engaging sentence and a perfect way to describe spirituality. Finding a connection with your soul and spirit is exactly how I would describe spirituality and you defining it in such a simple yet meaningful way really helped get the message across of how you feel about spirituality. Furthermore I agree with Grey that in order to reach the highest level of spirituality you must connect with yourself emotionally, physically, mentally, and spirituality. Furthermore, I also think that using the three levels of analysis would help viewers understand other pieces of art more conceptually. Are you one to use this type of analysis when trying to understand and connect with a piece of art?
I agree with you that everyone has a spiritual side in them. Also, I like your comparison of spirituality to soul. I think that those two connect in some way and bring out a creative side of an artist. However, I would disagree on the fact the spirituality and soul cannot be seen. I think that even though it is not obvious that someone is spiritual there may be situations when that someone’s spirituality may be seen. I think that people who are spiritual act in a different way and their views on world are different than other peoples. I think that spiritual people are level headed and they think before they say something. In my opinion they are smart and talented and they believe in the world they live in which is very different from everyone else lives that is consider reality.
I also thought the three eyes of knowing was an interesting part of the article this week. I had never considered it, but each person definitely sees things differently because they see things through different “eyes.” I typically see things out of the eye of reason, but that is what makes my perspective different from people who see things out of the other two “eyes.”
Your concepts of the three eyes and understanding art bring up a good question in my mind. When you say that people need these eyes in order to understand art, which you say many do not, do you then think of art as just the “high art” of the new culture? Would you classify needing those eyes to see art if the art was a comic book strip? I agree that there are some times when the eyes of understanding could be useful in seeing art, but I think a bigger connection is feeling the art with the soul. Having that same connection between art and the spirit is an interesting thing to consider.
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