Inception

Just back from watching Inception and my first reaction is that the reviews are right and it is a must-see film. The rules of its alternative reality are integrated well into the opening scenes of the story so that the different levels of dream within dreams follow coherently given the basic premise. On one level it is a straight ahead heist story with plenty of action and special effects. On another, it is a warning about the dangers of virtual reality and, at its emotional heart, it deals with with the power and process of grief. Clearly it also raising questions about the nature of reality. So there is much to muse on but the spills and thrills of the ride and levels of its story need to be seen first on the big screen!

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Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined.

Exhibiting spirituality

It has been interesting to see the number of exhibitions recently which have explored some aspect of spirituality. Both the numbers and differing styles of exhibition would seem to indicate a renewed engagement within the art world with the force and mystery of spirituality.

Blood Tears Faith Doubt was an exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery curated by students which "confronted historic Christian art with contemporary art that continues to address the same visual tradition." The contemporary works selected allude to or depict religious imagery or practices but are ambiguous or ironic in their response therefore providing a strong contrast with works of devotion from a earlier age.

A similar questioning of received traditions can be found in Newspeak: British Art Now at the Saatchi Gallery and particularly in the stunning work of Ged Quinn. Quinn reproduces with great technical virtuosity works from the golden ages of classical, romantic and genre paintings but inserts within these compositions jarring contemporary images which undercut the arcadian images. Cake in the Wilderness depicts a cherry cake cut into a crucifix which is also the shape of the infamous Spandau prison while True Peace Will Prevail Under The Rule juxtaposes Claude Lorrain's depiction of Jacob, Rachel and Leah at the well with Mount Carmel, home of David Koresh's dissident religious community. By these means Quinn questions idealist images of faith and tradition in a way that challenges the honesty and veracity of religious image making.

Mark Wallinger's recent show at the Anthony Reynolds Gallery also questioned the substance of religion with the second of two sculptures meditating on the nature of selfhood. Richard Dorment described I Am Innocent as consisting:

"of two bigger-than-life-size reproductions of Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X shown back-to-back and revolving slowly from a cable attached to a motor in the ceiling. On one side, we see the portrait as Velázquez painted it, with the Pope on the left hand side; on the other, the portrait is reversed, so that he sits on the right."

Here we see, Dorment suggests, "a human being whose “I” is subsumed in the trappings of power."

However, despite the prevalence of ironic juxtaposition in a exhibition such as Newspeak, there have also been more positive responses to spirituality on show. The photographs of Leah Gordon at Riflemaker have much in common with those of Markéta Luskačová in Blood Tears Faith Doubt, in that both depict the poignant integrity with which those they photograph practice their faith and, through this, capture a sense of the sacred in the everyday.

Gordon writes that: "Photography has rarely been embraced as a form of representation by religions. It is as if photography with it's indelible relationship to the material could only serve to disprove the divine. Although when one reflects on its alchemical past it seems rooted in magical process." The work of both suggests that such attitudes should change.

Gordon's exhibition is called The Invisibles, a title which tallies with several of the abstract works on show in this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition such as The Unseen by Emma Biggs and Matthew Collings. In the same room is Jane Harris’s Divine which combines a golden comb-like oval framing a white void. The still harmonious parallels of this composition hide an infinite variety of brushstrokes when seen close-up; suggestive of the permanence and change contained within the divine.

Finally, the Summer Exhibition includes a commemorative display by the late Craigie Aitchison including several of his luminous Crucifixions while the Kings Place Gallery has a wonderful selection of landscape and religious works by the late Norman Adams (see above). With this latter exhibition, for once, a gallery's exhibition description seems entirely accurate:

"When Norman Adams died in March 2005, Britain lost one of the most significant artists to have emerged over the last half century. Spanning a career of almost sixty years, Adams’ art was essentially ecstatic and life affirming in its approach to nature and man’s place within it.
Drawn from the artist’s estate, the paintings and watercolours in this exhibition explore five decades of prolific output during the course of which Adams evolved an intensely original and personal style in which the poetical and Romantic landscape traditions of Blake and Turner are infused with the broader currents of European Modernism – Van Gogh and Ensor, Nolde and Picasso among others - to create one of the most deeply felt and emotionally intense expressions of the Northern Expressionist sensibility in late 20th Century British art."

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King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black.

Coathanger crucifixion

The following comes from the Bible Society's Newswatch service:

"A 9-foot sculpture of the crucifixion, made from 3,000 coathangers, was briefly on show outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh on Wednesday. David Mach, a Scottish artist acclaimed for his massive sculptures created from waste products, is developing four crucifixion figures including a Calvary scene for a major exhibition at the Scottish capital’s City Art Centre next summer. He is also producing up to 120 large-scale collages giving his ‘artist’s version’ of biblical events. Fife-born Mach (54) was spurred to work on the project because it was at Burntisland, Fife that James VI agreed to commission a new Bible in 1601. Although Mach has no personal religious belief, he said, ‘The King James Bible communicated its message so effectively that its language still resonates through our speech.’ The ‘richness’ of ‘biblical imagery is as fine a subject as I could wish for’ he added."

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Regina Spektor - Samson.

New Church Art Trail (3)

Bishop of Barking, Fr. Ben Rutt-Field, and Henry Shelton after the dedication of the 'Stations of the Crown of Thorns' at St Paul's Goodmayes

Fr. Ben with the final Station in the series

For the second week running the new Church Art Trail created by the cluster of Anglican churches in Aldborough Hatch, Goodmayes and Seven Kings features in the Ilford Recorder; this week with a double page photo feature.

In the article, which features each of the four churches on the Trail, Fr. Ben Rutt-Field, Parish Priest of St Paul's Goodmayes, says: "So often people walk past churches and think it is just a plain building - they aren't aware of the beauty inside." Revd. Petros Nyatsanza, Vicar of All Saints Goodmayes, said: "We hope that with the Trail, churches will be at the centre of the community and people will come in and have a look and actually read through the stories of Jesus."

The Art Trail includes The Stations of the Crown of Thorns created by Henry Shelton at St Paul's Goodmayes through a commission obtained by commission4mission. These Stations were dedicated by the Bishop of Barking at the weekend and a report plus photographs from this event can be found by clicking here.

A guided walk along the Art Trail has been organised for Wednesday 28th July beginning at 2.00pm at St Peter's Aldborough Hatch. All are welcome to come and enjoy the art and the walking.

As part of preparation for the Recorder feature I prepared the following comments which were used in a variety of ways within the piece:

The Christian faith has inspired great artists throughout the centuries to paint at the height of their technical ability and creative imagination. The result has been centuries of great art inspired by the Christian faith and conveying aspects of the faith in new and creative ways. People are often initially attracted to Church art by its beauty and scale but great art is never simply about its immediate or surface impression; instead its colours, shapes and symbols draw those who take the time to look deeper into the mystery of God and faith.

Through wall-paintings in catacombs and homes, visual art very quickly became a significant feature of the Christian faith. Such art was about inspiration and instruction for followers of the Christian faith and throughout much of the history of the Church this continued to be the case; because most people were not literate, the fundamental doctrines of the faith were conveyed through art. By contrast, today Christian Art often seeks to convey, through colour, shape, sign and symbol, something of the mystery of God, who is Spirit and therefore, ultimately, invisible.

The visual arts can contribute to the mission of the Church by: speaking eloquently of the Christian faith; providing a reason for people to visit a church; providing a link between churches and local arts organisations/initiatives; and providing a focus around which local people can come together for a shared activity.

I hope the Art Trail will provide people with another reason to visit their local churches in order that they can be inspired by the beauty of the artworks and of the buildings themselves. I hope, too, that those who do will be pleasantly surprised to find that these churches are also vibrant community buildings hosting a wide variety of community activities and events which benefit the whole community.

In a further interesting development, this week I have been contacted by a researcher who thinks that St John's Seven Kings may contain stained glass by the mural painter, stained-glass artist, illustrator and wood engraver, Bernard Sleigh. Watch this space as we investigate this possibility further.

This week's Recorder also includes an article about our recent Praise on the Green event.

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Al Green - People Get Ready.

Seven Kings Library opening

Seven Kings Library will open to the public next week and can be found at 679 High Road, Ilford IG3 8RQ.

The full opening hours commence from 9am on Tuesday 27 July but a special preview afternoon is being held on Monday 26 July which is open to all those who have worked on the development of the library, and to members of wider community networks.

People are welcome to come down between 1pm and 4pm on Monday to see the library, meet the staff and see the services on offer. There will also be storytelling and free facepainting for children.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Keith Prince, will officially open the library at 2.30pm and press are being invited for around this time.

Space is slightly limited, so people should RSVP to admin.library@redbridge.gov.uk to help in estimating numbers.

The opening hours from Tuesday are as follows:

• Tues 9am-8pm
• Weds 8am-5pm
• Thurs 9am-8pm
• Fri 8am-5pm
• Sat 10am-2pm
• Sun 10am-2pm

The library at 679, High Road, Seven Kings is fitted with folding shelving so it can be used as a small meeting room outside library hours. Around 5,000 books, talking books and DVDs will line the shelves and any titles not available can be requested free of charge from other library branches or other libraries in the London libraries consortium. It will also be the first library in the Borough to have Sunday opening hours, and will be open a total of 48 hours a week.

Regular library activities will be available including story time sessions, reading groups, children's activities and computer and internet tutorials. The library is also set to offer wireless internet access in the coming weeks and has four computers available for free public use.

A library working group, made up of local residents, Councillors and Council Officers was set up after the decision by Cabinet in September 2009 to agree to fund the temporary library. The group has been meeting regularly throughout the process to make sure the new facility works well for the community.

The temporary facility is expected to provide a library service to local residents for a number of years pending plans for a new leisure centre in the area which would include a library.

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Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Morning of Our Lives.

Mixing Church & Politics (2)

Yesterday the Bishop of Barking (with Anglican and Ecumenical partners) hosted a seminar for church leaders on encouraging vocations to public life and political office entitled Mixing Church and Politics.

This was a well attended event at Westminster which saw politicians and political activists from each of the main parties speak passionately about the faith motivations for their political careers. These ranged from the influence of Catholic social teaching to Evangelical urban missions.

Stephen Timms equated Wilberforce’s campaign for the abolition of slavery with the Church’s involvement in the Jubilee 2000 and Make Poverty History campaigns. Jon Cruddas commended the attempts by Rowan Williams and Vincent Nicholls to change the language of political discourse and to re-emphasise the significance of ‘virtue’. In addition to contributions from Simon Hughes and David Burrowes, Caroline Alabi and Sister Josephine Caddy spoke about their involvements in the Hope not Hate and London Citizens campaigns respectively.

Bishop David has said, "After the past eighteen months confidence in political life in our country has reached an all time low. The Christian community needs to take responsibility in calling out vocations to public life and supporting politicians in this high Christian calling."

The evening saw my continued engagement with local politics as, together with Tom Platt of Living Streets, I presented the Community Street Audit report prepared by the Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association to the Area 7 Committee in the London Borough of Redbridge.

Our report highlights issues of traffic speeds, pavement parking, damaged paving, renewal of signage, litter, and seating in public areas along Aldborough Road South. We are calling for greater enforcement of the 20mph speed limit; traffic calming measures; a review of parking in the whole area; and additional signage to local amenities. Alongside these requests, we are offering to help fund new public seating and to organise community events to clean up the area and promote pride in the upkeep of front gardens.

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Runrig - City Of Lights / Dance Called America.

Windows on the world (112)

Marle Place, 2010

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Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - Parce Mihi Domine (1).