FYI, I was recently interviewed about Mormon arts for Menachem Wecker’s Iconia blog. Here’s a brief sampling:
MW: Do you think having faith is an advantage for an artist and helps her or him find inspiration? BC: Oh, certainly. After all, art is itself an act of faith, believing that out of raw materials we artists can make something that means something. And like I said earlier, art and faith are both about seeking meaning in life. While my faith doesn’t always have an immediate answer for every single question I have, it does give me a way to get by when I don’t have answers, and that’s worth a lot to me. I don’t know why God does everything He does, but I do know that there’s a God and that He’s good and that I can trust Him. And I know that God wants me to make art. I don’t know why, but just knowing that the creative act is itself a form of worship often gives me inspiration, or at least gives me enough momentum to keep pushing on until I find that inspiration. (For me, inspiration occasionally comes in a brilliant flash, but more often than not it comes out of the sweat of hard work. Faith helps me have the stamina to keep working till it comes.)
I have to admit that these questions were a little harder to answer than the ones I’ve gotten in other interviews, but it was a lot of fun. (Speaking of interviews, I’ve been interviewed six times in the last couple of weeks and have done two interviews myself as well. I guess it’s interview season or something.)
Comments
I just read that interview (from your link on facebook) and let me just say, that was absolutely wonderful. I mean, the content was good, but what really impressed me the most was the way you dealt with questions of faith. Some questions that seemed almost to be challenging our faith and some questions where you allowed faith and the gospel to take a front seat. I tend to shy away from anything like that. Almost to the point of demeaning the faith (though not that bad) and try as hard as possible not to bring it up in most situations. You seemed to have dove in head first and it worked. Thanks, once again, for your example.
Thanks for linking this Ben. I enjoyed the conversation very much and hope there will be more soon.
Ginger, I hope you don’t mean that you thought my questions were demeaning to your faith. That was not my intention at all. I asked what I thought were important questions that would be meaningful to my readers, and at no point did I want to be at all critical of anyone’s faith. If it sounded that way it is my own ignorance and lack of familiarity with the proper vocabulary, but I am trying my best to learn more and always welcome feedback.
Also, I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of the questions about Mormon art, whether here or on my blog. Do you have any favorite examples of Mormon art you can share? Any ideas on unique challenges shouldered by Mormon artists? etc.
Menachem: I don’t think that the intent was really to demean the faith. That’s the problem I think with reading an interview in print like this. I think it may be almost a ‘trained’ defensive response to certain questions that in most cases are not asked in a friendly and actual questioning way. I am not meaning to question your integrity at all here, the interview was great.
Ginger: Thanks. :) As for the challenging questions, I think you’re right in that we often default to a defensive posture, which probably is a legacy we’ve inherited from the early Saints and the persecution they endured. Thankfully the interview’s intentions were far from attacking our faith. :)
Menachem: Oh, your questions were all quite valid, don’t worry. :)
Completely random aside: I just realized that this was post #1700 for me.
Throw in your two cents