Ordinary Aura

or, an aura of what?

i think the idea of physical groups/meetings is excellent. those could also be documented in some form and included in the printed matter.

I used to teach at this christian college where the kids were all marriage-obssessed, probably because they wanted to have sex and because they got dealt a steady stream of hollywood-style "God has one very special person all picked out for you."

anyway they had this thing there where every friendship with a member of the opposite sex eventually had to come to the infamous "R.D.T" - the Relationship Defining Talk.

Now I admit that this can be a healthy part of being intentional about one's interpersonal relationships and motivations. BUT in this case it almost always meant "Are we just friends or are we dating? Are we heading toward marriage? Do you think I might be the One that God chose for me? WHAT IS THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF THE FACT THAT WE ALWAYS END UP EATING LUNCH TOGETHER?"

I kind of feel like Alan's question is in this vein, actually. Though I ask WHY about most everything in life, it usually is because I wonder why something is like THIS when it could be like THAT. I detect in Alan's WHY more of a test for aura, a request for clarification of Purpose in the eternal frame of things.

I resist such inquiries with every part of me, not because I don't believe in the Eternal, but because I think a lot of things in this life participate in the Eternal through their very BEING. From what I can tell so far, a lot of you share this sentiment.

In the case of this exhibition and conversation then, I'm here simply because of the chance to meet and converse with some new people about some subject matter I care about - same as any other exhibition, really. It's been interesting, and I'm thankful for it, and I look forward to what happens, and I wish more exhibitions were as conducive to conversation, but I don't really see this so far as something more that will last as an institution or something. I don't really look for that anywhere.

i readily admit and can see how this all might mean more to some of you, and I absolutely respect that, but since you asked, I figured I should say that it doesn't for me.

(that last line is STRAIGHT out of an RDT if there ever was one, huh?)

oh and one more thing - I can see that some of you are likely to collaborate on a piece or pieces for the show, but I think to call the whole thing a collaboration is using the term a little generously I think. I can see where we are responding to each other and to some common subject matter, but that's where it stops. i don't think people can collaborate on an exhibition, only on a piece.

i am excited about the show and conversation though, so don't hear me to be raining on the parade. just being honest.

I kinda-sorta agree with Kevin's qualms about the idea of collaboration. In response to Rowley, I'm not envisioning the map as an overarching structure to the exhibition, into which we all must cram; I'm imagining it as pretty much my project within the exhibition, and while I'd like to collaborate with others on certain aspects of it, the body of that piece would be a single multimedia work, occupying part of the space in the way that paintings will occupy other parts.

The map project is perhaps more visible at this point, in the blog, than other aspects of the show because a multimedia installation lends itself more to brainstorming and note-taking and such than painting. Also, I like to think out loud sometimes.

(As a side note; perhaps a paper process version, involving sketches, printouts and so forth, might be a good project for potential collaboration as a process document; but more on that later.)

As for why I'm here, as a skeptic, I also echo Kevin's sentiment that it's a great opportunity to talk with other artists about issues that, while we may disagree on them, concern us all. I think I said earlier that there are few communities for engaged skeptics, particularly in the arts -- perhaps as few as engaged Christians. Perhaps unlike Kevin, I'd love for these conversations to continue in the future, maybe less formally than as an Ordinary Aura roadshow, but hopefully with some more work as a productive result. I do feel like there are some conversations here that are just now getting going, and that might just start to get interesting and engaged as we're actually putting work in the space.

yeah I'm with seth-

i guess the best thing I hope for from any exhibition I'm in is new friendships and new conversations. those I'm definitely interested in pursuing, adding to the ones I've gained from past exhibitions.

this is when i say, "but i love you!" (RDT).

no really, i think i should recant on two terms that seem to have been over-stated on my part. first, "collaboration" was inappropriately used. the collaboration i was referring to was the conceptual aspect of the conversation, "the spiritual and the everyday", not really the work. though, there are some collaborative projects in motion, i think.

second, by referring to "community", i was really getting at our purpose. not to create an institution, but to influence the viewer through the work. i think that as believers, we should consider that. i also think that ultimately, one of our most powerful aspects of christian life and influence is community- relationships (there's that word) not organizations. this is with one another, but also the world.

and i do think that there is potential to do future work together, not officially or necessarily the same folks, but simply christians in general. i don't think too many are thinking about this or doing it well, either. i think that this is important, and i wanted to here from you on the matter.

overall, i was really interested in getting to know the motivations behind the postings and images on the blog. i appreciate your honesty kevin and i realize that seth brings a different perspective to the group, which i greatly appreciate, too. thanks for your responses.

can i still call you? jk.

how about the rest?

RDT - I love it. Especially since I went to a small Christian College in the "heartland" that had many women looking for their MRS degree and Men looking for their MR degree. From my vantage point I see the conversation around Ordinary Aura evolving into an understanding of our world views. How we envision the world we live in and the relationship to how God moves through and in that world. Call it a "weltanschang" (massacred german spelling), but it is an attempt to cast a wide to explain our relations with the world and the Creator. We all have come from different, yet specific backgrounds that add to this understanding and make it thus more complex.

Yes in a way I feel like we are mapping, or composing a cosmology of our understandings. Not in a scientific manner, but in a meandering and very human way. And related to this I hope that even though there are different projects and works being brought together that we can emphasize a poetics/dialog amongst these elements.

I hope we can create a glimpse of something larger than the sum of our parts. Which is what I feel happens in marriage also. ;)

I love you guys!