A Strong Relationship between Art and Spirituality - Book Report/Review Example

Art and Human Value Journal 1 Spirituality is the key that provides an opportunity to human to go ahead of their religious traditions and explore an enhanced and better mechanism for themselves to fulfill their social and moral needs. I have observed that the concept that has been in the mind of society that if a person has spiritual soul and has his own point views regarding different religious aspects, in order to that society finds him responsible for spoiling their religious norms and beliefs. I believe that this piece of thinking that society posses is completely bias that must be change. After vast learning and observation I came to the point that if person desires to live an unbiased and impartial life then it is important that his soul, mind and body must be in equilibrium with each other. For this purpose, religion provides the direction to the person in order to live a purposeful life, but for following the religion it is essential that the person have spiritual soul. It is impossible to fulfill religious aspects and norms regardless of being spiritual. I have observed the drawback of the society, which thinks that being spiritual is difficult, and more demanding. According to my point of view, religion and spirituality both comprises deep belief and connection with God, humanity and nature that is least demanding than any other thing on earth. In other words, it would not be wrong if I say that Spirituality works as a driving force that enforces the person to keep exploring new aspects and it also give a better understanding of the world. With the study of the book I have learned that, throughout the history there is been a strong relationship between art and Spirituality. All across the history people have been using art as a platform to represent their thoughts. Paintings and architecture have been a major source to define spirituality that connects the humanity with Divine. By considering the aspects of present society it can be concluded that it is impossible for a person to live within certain religious and conservative circumstances with limited set of morals and beliefs. I think it is an impractical approach to confine a person within old and unvarying limitation because the social circumstances of present era, does not allow the person to be in this conservative limitation. Journal 2 All through the history, it is evident that people have been using art as a medium for different causes. I have noticed that, all around the history Performance art has been a vehicle of social change that transformed human life. I believe that performance art is one of those essential art forms that have been provided as a hub for representing emotions, beliefs and it is responsible for bringing major revolutionary changes in the history of the world. I have often realized that, for making the performance more effective artists make use of different kind of visual art, sound, videos and prop to provide the maximum impact to the audience. Similarly, in “Border Hysteria and The War against Differences” the most critical issues regarding Border Hysteria (US-Mexican border) have been discussed. I consider that it explains the criticality and ins and outs of serious situation. I think the way that art has been used in it in the form of political protest is considerable. With the pace of time, technology has broadened the field of art by different means such as photography. I assume photography as one of the incredible arts of a present time that has enabled the world with whole new set of art within it. Photography has been the most influential form of art in order to convey the message, expression and emotion. I think that camera is one of the most influential inventions that has influenced and assisted to run different social campaigns for example, “Come take a Picture” in Mexico during 1994. Photography played an important role in that campaign in order to avoid fraud and to assure the transparency of the election. I consider it as an excellent use of art for the social cause. It can be said that art has a vital role in the present society that provides awareness and opportunity of self-expression to the people. According to my point of view, I see art as a source of strength in a meaningful way such as it provides independence and collaboration to express thoughts and thinking. By considering the facts I have come to the point that art provide the as the source of inspiration to explore and learn new and innovative aspects of the world. Answer 1 Being religious means is to resign from all self-interest and designate oneself to God or the gods. I believe that it is the relation between God and human. Whereas, being spiritual means a certain attachment that person has with the morals, norms and values of the religion (Shapiro, 2014). An amazing work of art named as ‘The Creation of Adam’ is basically a fresco painting by Michelangelo, which is painted on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel during 1511-1512. It depicts that God is breathing life into Adam who was the first man on earth (Creation of Adam, 2104). This painting shows the eternal connection of religion and spirituality of human. Another art piece named as ‘The Last Judgment’ (Last Judgment Triptych, 2014). This painting is composed on three panels that represent the Garden of Eden, the Day of Judgment and the Hell. I think this painting is the perfect example of religiousness and spirituality that connects the entire humankind with the divine. Religion can be anything practiced by person according to their desire. Whereas, spirituality is something that gives the way to explore and reach God that is well depicted in above discussed art pieces. Religion and spirituality both have certain set of ritual and practices and both have respect for the holy or the sacred. In that way both are interconnected with each other. Answer 2 Performance art is a work of art that can be defined as when artist use his body and perform live action in front of audience and make use of different props and costume along with different themes and music (Kaprow, 2014). Recently, I got a chance to present a play that was entitled as ‘Religion serves Humanity’. The main goal of the performance was to convey the message to the audience that the reason and aim behind every religion is to serve humanity... The location where this play took place was city the auditorium of community center. There were nine performers in overall play including widow, Muslim boy, bishop and the soldiers. A variety of props used for performance included guns, stick and prayer rope and armor. There were different costumes used in a play such as for German soldiers, Israeli soldiers, Bishop and a widow. This play was the reflection of my thoughts and thinking. The basic content of the performance included the teaching of different religion regarding Humanity that I used in different perspective, but my main idea behind the play was constant. The play was performed into three phases through different characters that included a Christian Bishop, a Jewish Widow of Russia during the reign of Hitler, and a Muslim Boy of Palestine. In the first and second phases of the play, the boy and widow were seen facing violence and suffering caused by the armies of Israel and Germany. In the final phase of the play, both of the characters (a Jewish women and a Muslim boy) came to ask for justice from Bishop, where Bishop presented and discussed thorough judgments and viewpoints of different religion that summed up with serving humanity. This play fulfilled the idea that no matter what religion it is, but the main spirit behind its teachings is to serve humanity. This play became so appreciated by the audience and it ended up with the standing ovation. Reference List Last Judgment Triptych. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/bosch/8lastjud/00lastju.html Creation of Adam. (2014). Retrieved from http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/CSNs/CSNs_V_StCentr_06.html Kaprow, A. (2014). Performance Art. From http://www.theartstory.org/movement-performance-art.htm Shapiro, R. (2014). What is the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality? From http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/what-difference-between-religion-and-spirituality Read More