Artifact VI: Spirituality
Artifact: Spirituality
Objectives:
- Become familiar with ways in which spirituality influences artists
- Discuss the differences between spirituality and religion
- Examine spirituality as a generative force and a well spring for creativity
Reflection:
I thought that the young man that made the religious satire art made a really profound statement that helped me to understand how spirituality and art interact by saying “ambiguity is where the spiritual lies”. Art is the human mechanism for expressing the intangible. It is the physical embodiment of emotions, stigmas, societal influences; all things that are not seen, heard, or touched, but things that are as prevalent as any physical sensation. Spirituality in a way embodies all of those things. It’s the idea that people are all connected, and art being universal and a biological aspect of human life like Dissanayake said in What is Art For? (pg. 15) means that we spirituality and art go hand in hand.
The essay assignment encouraged me to dive deeper into the question of spirituality and art. I am not a religious person, but I have learned that spirituality and religion are not synonymous. Religion is man’s tool used to explain and harness spirituality. It’s man’s way of attempting to understand what is unknown through a systematic approach to an ambiguous concept. Spirituality is at the center of religion because it embodies the unknown. Spirituality exists without religion, but religion cannot exist without spirituality. I identify as a spiritual person, but not a religious person. My spirituality helps me at the very least understand that there are things that I do not understand. Art allows us to explore the unknown without having to pretend that we have it all figured out.
Moving Forward:
I think that it would be great for me to study other cultures and their religions specifically to understand how it shapes and influences the art of that culture.