CTiW: Prayer Vigil & Meet the Neighbours

CTiW Prisons Mission PRAYER VIGIL

19 October 2018 | 7.00-11.00 pm, Notre Dame de France, 5 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX - A sequence of readings, dialogue, testimonies, reflections, music and prayer on the themes of prison reform, rehabilitation of prisoners, needs of victims and the Christian response. This is an inter-denominational and inter-faith event. All are welcome.

British prisons are described, by successive HM Chief Inspectors as “dirty, dangerous, vermin infested and unsafe” and the whole system is in crisis. We lock up more men, women and children, per head of population, and we detain them for longer than any other western European nation. But, we do not have more crime. The reoffending rates are also worse than our neighbours. Despite many very good staff and chaplains, these prisons are not a suitable environment within which to begin the process of recovery and rehabilitation. Not serving the needs of prisoners, victims of crime, or tax-payers. Join others in prayer and vigil as Christians of all denominations seek to deepen our awareness and compassion.

CTiW “Meet the Neighbours” at St Martin-in-the-Fields

On Wednesday, 24 October beginning at 6.30pm with Bread for the World, St Martin’s will host our friends from Churches Together in Westminster who will also join us for soup and roll in No 6 St Martin’s Place at 7.30pm before having a talk about the ministry of St Martin’s in the Dick Sheppard Chapel at 8.00pm.

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Morten Lauridsen - O Magnum Mysterium.

Artlyst interview: Mark Dean projects ...

My latest article for Artlyst is an interview with Mark Dean, whose Stations of the Cross we recently hosted at St Stephen Walbrook as an all-night Vigil on Easter Eve.

In the interview Mark speaks about the elements of his work which often come together in quite surprising ways. He says:

"It does sometimes feel like it’s not just up to me – that there is an underlying relationship that I am drawing out, or noticing. And so the collaborative basis of this project feels like an extension of that process. And this is confirmed by the fact that all three of us (and of course the churches we are partnering with) have a common relation in our Christian faith, despite our quite different approaches. So without making grand claims, I would say it is the Holy Spirit that binds it all together. Actually, this goes back to the previous question about the sense of the sacred in art. The late critic Stuart Morgan once said to me that the problem with the Modernist engagement with spirituality wasn’t that it wasn’t real, but that it was somehow exclusive – as though only artists were privy to the spirituality that generated creativity. Understanding the working of the Holy Spirit throughout the world helps us to avoid that kind of elitism, which can be understood as a form of Gnosticism."

This aspect of his work is further explored by Lucy Newman Cleeve in her essay for the Stations2017 catalogue and in an interview that she gave to Elephant Magazine about the project. Stations2017 has been reviewed by Art & Christianity Journal, while the videos shown can be viewed on Mark Dean's website.

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Neil Young - Cowgirl In The Sand.    

The art of discovering beauty

Here is the Thought for the Week that I have prepared this week for St Martin-in-the-Fields:

After Easter I read ‘The Spiritual Dynamic in Modern Art’ in which Charlene Spretnak demonstrates that ‘nearly every significant art movement of the modern period emerged partially in response to spiritual issues in the zeitgeist and the particular spiritual interests of numerous artist s’.

For many years, however, ‘the spiritual dynamic in modern art was all but invisible within the professional art world because it did not fit within the contours of the historicism of modern art’ as ‘the informing values and preferences of the secular modern worldview’ meant that spiritual content was viewed as ‘unbearably backward … irrelevant, and … distasteful’.

The book daylights ‘the great underground river of spiritual influences’ which ‘flowed through nearly all the major art movements’ of the modern era. St Martin’s, through its programme of loans, commissions and exhibitions, has also contributed to the ‘daylighting’ of this river. The present increasing awareness of these influences amounts to a resurrection or revival of interest in the links between spirituality and art.

At St Stephen Walbrook, our All Night Vigil on Easter Eve, based on Mark Dean’s films for the Stations of the Cross projected onto our Henry Moore altar, also daylighted these spiritual influences by means of readings exploring the spiritual influences of modern artists such as Andy Warhol and Yves Klein.

A prayer written by Yves Klein asks that God grant him ‘the favour of inhabiting my works and that they may become ever more beautiful, and also the favour that I may continually and regularly discover ever new and lovelier things in art even if alas I may not always be worthy to be a tool for the construction and creation of Great Beauty. Please let everything that comes out of me be Beautiful. Amen

I will be preaching in the 10.00am Eucharist at St Martin's tomorrow and will be saying more about Stations2017 in my sermon.

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Bob Dylan - Things Have Changed.

Stations2017: Stations of the Cross & Stations of the Resurrection

Stations of the Cross brought together fourteen video works by Mark Dean that reinterpreted the medieval tradition of spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the path Jesus walked to Calvary on the day of his crucifixion. The videos are not literal depictions of this journey. They rely upon Dean’s trademark appropriation of film and video footage and music, to introduce visual and aural puns that generate and interrogate meaning within the work, setting up disputations between the different elements being sampled. Although the work is carefully constructed, the reverberations created by placing potent symbols side by side are myriad. The work was projected in sequence onto the circular Henry Moore altar at St Stephen Walbrook throughout the night on Easter Eve, interspersed with readings and space for meditation. Participants were invited to stay for the duration but remained free to come and go, as part of a vigil culminating in a performance of A Prelude to Being Here by two dancers from Lizzi Kew Ross & Co and an optional dawn Eucharist. 

If you would like to view these video works, they are now online at: http://tailbiter.com/art/stations-of-the-cross together with the catalogue essay and the readings used during the Vigil.

Here Comes The Sony is a twelve-screen video and sound work, installed for the first time under the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral during Eastertide (Wednesday 26 April). It reinterprets the less definitive tradition of the Stations of the Resurrection, which emerged to encourage meditation on the resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. Being Here, devised by choreographer Lizzi Kew Ross and the dancers, is performed on the stage formed by the circular placement of television monitors under the dome. Five dancers emerge from the shadows around the edge of the stage and start to navigate the space, sometimes individually and sometimes in groups of far-off and nervous proximity. The on-lookers find themselves within the action of these movements. While not enacting the narratives, the dance performance is an interpretation of the moment, producing a sense of a shared journey and progression through time and space and enabling the audience to curate the tension and distance between the installation and their own responses.

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Planxty - As I Roved Out.

Stations2017: Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross grew out of a collaboration between Mark Dean (artist), Lizzi Kew Ross (choreographer) and Lucy Newman Cleeve (curator).

It brought together 14 video works by Mark Dean that re-interpret the Medieval tradition of making a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the path Jesus walked to Calvary on the day of his crucifixion. The videos are not literal depictions of this journey. They rely upon Dean’s trademark appropriation of iconic film and video footage and music, to introduce visual and aural puns that behave as the generators and interrogators of meaning within the work, setting up a series of disputations between the different elements being sampled. They were projected onto the circular Henry Moore altar at St Stephen Walbrook throughout the night on Easter eve. Audience members were invited to stay for the duration but free to come and go, as part of a vigil event that culminated in a performance of A Prelude to Being Here by Lizzi Kew Ross and Co, and an optional dawn eucharist.

Stations of the Cross was the first of a 2-part series, the second of which takes place on 26th April at St Paul's Cathedral. Tickets can be booked here. The event at St Paul's includes the premiere performance of Here Comes The Sony, a 12 monitor video and sound installation by Mark Dean that re-interprets the less definitive tradition of the Stations of the Resurrection, which emerged to encourage meditation on the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and will be installed for the first time under the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral during Eastertide. Being Here, devised by choreographer, Lizzi Kew Ross and the dancers, connects the two events and will be performed in the middle of the circular stage formed by the placement of the television equipment. It combines images of human presence, comfort, hope, loss and regret implicit in the Resurrection stories with the shifting qualities of colour and sound formed by the installation. While not enacting the narratives, the dance performance is an interpretation of the moment, producing a sense of a shared journey and progression through time and space and enabling the audience to curate the tension and the distance between the installation and their own responses.

St Stephen Walbrook, designed by Christopher Wren in 1672, accommodates the first classical dome to have been built in England and was his prototype for the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Wren designed his churches to be ‘auditories’ in which everyone present could see, hear and feel themselves part of the congregation. Stations of the Cross and Stations of the Resurrection function in a similar way to the Mystery Plays, providing a contemporary re-interpretation of the story of Easter. The audience is an integral part of each event that, like the Visitatio Sepulchri liturgical dramas from the 10th - 11th centuries, are firmly placed in local contexts and intended to involve the whole community.

For more information visit: stations2017.org

Supported by The City of London Corporation, The Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral, The Diocese of London, Capital Vision 2020 Creatives Network, The Jerusalem Trust, commission4mission, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Shoot the Sound, gigCMO and the Worshipful Company of Marketors.

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The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun.

Stations of the Cross & Stations of the Resurrection

_______________________________ Stations of the Cross St Stephen Walbrook London EC4N 8BN Saturday 15 — Sunday 16 April 2017 10pm — 6am _______________________________ Stations of the Resurrection St Paul’s Cathedral London EC4M 8AD Wednesday 26 April 2017 7 — 9 pm

_______________________________ Mark Dean video / sound Lizzi Kew Ross & Co choreography / dance Curated by Lucy Newman Cleeve Man&Eve Projects _______________________________ www.stations2017.org

St Stephen Walbrook, designed by Christopher Wren in 1672, accommodates the first classical dome to have been built in England, and was Wren’s prototype for St Paul’s Cathedral. This architectural relationship provides a physical and interpretive context for the premiere of new work by Mark Dean and Lizzi Kew Ross & Co, in two events curated by Lucy Newman Cleeve. Stations of the Cross brings together 14 video works by Mark Dean that reinterpret the Medieval tradition of making a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the path Jesus walked to Calvary on the day of his crucifixion. The videos are not literal depictions of this journey. They rely upon Dean’s trademark appropriation of iconic film and video footage and music, to introduce visual and aural puns that behave as the generators and interrogators of meaning within the work, setting up a series of disputations between the different elements being sampled. They will be projected onto the circular Henry Moore altar at St Stephen Walbrook throughout the night on Easter eve. Audience members are invited to stay for the duration but free to come and go, as part of a vigil event that culminates in a performance of A Prelude to Being Here by Lizzi Kew Ross & Co and an optional dawn Eucharist. Here Comes The Sony is a 12 monitor video and sound installation that reinterprets the less definitive tradition of the Stations of the Resurrection, which emerged to encourage meditation on the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and will be installed for the first time under the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral during Eastertide. Being Here, devised by choreographer, Lizzi Kew Ross and the dancers, connects the two events and will be performed in the middle of the circular stage formed by the placement of the television monitors. It combines images of human presence, comfort, hope, loss and regret implicit in the Resurrection stories with the shifting qualities of colour and sound formed by the installation. While not enacting the narratives, the dance performance is an interpretation of the moment, producing a sense of a shared journey and progression through time and space and enabling the audience to curate the tension and the distance between the installation and their own responses. Wren designed his churches to be 'auditories' in which everyone present could see, hear and feel themselves part of the congregation. Stations of the Cross and Stations of the Resurrection function in a similar way to the Mystery Plays, providing a contemporary re interpretation of the story of Easter. The audience is an integral part of each event that, like the Visitatio Sepulchri liturgical dramas from the 10th – 11th centuries, are firmly placed in local contexts and intended to involve the whole community. The events are free but places are limited. Tickets can be booked in advance from: www.stationsofthecross2017.eventbrite.co.uk www.stationsoftheresurrection2017.eventbrite.co.uk Supported by the City of London Corporation, The Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral, The Diocese of London, Capital Vision 2020 Creatives Network, The Jerusalem Trust, commission4mission, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, gigCMO and the Worshipful Company of Marketors.

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Gavin Bryars Feat. Tom Waits - Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet.