Help-Portrait was truly amazing. God provided the perfect weather, people served with enthusiasm, and many were blessed as a result. Thanks to all the Artisan folk who came out and helped make it happen. To read and see more images on UGM's blog, click here . Next year's date is already set: Dec 03, 2011. We'll definitely be involved again, so if you missed out this time, this video will hopefully help whet your appetite to participate next year! For more videos, click here .

Help-Portrait Vancouver 2010 (Thank You) from Steve Tan on Vimeo .

We had a great time at our first Culture Making Collective evening. Almost 20 of us gathered for an evening to have a fresh listen to the music of Sufjan Stevens and think about creative ways in which his art inspires us to be "culture keepers" -- intentionally stewarding good forms of culture. But we don't want this to be simply an intellectual exercise. So we came up with a kind of 'multiple choice' list -- a bunch of ideas to act on that which inspired us. All who attended (as well as anyone reading this) are invited to pick something from this list and DO it sometime in the next few weeks. After you've done it, we highly encourage you to WRITE a short blog post about your experience and send it to me: nelson (at) www.artisanvancouver.ca. Here's the list. Happy choosing!

1.) Listen to a Sufjan album in one sitting -- and NOT as background music. This is a way of counter-acting our short attention spans.

2.) Listen to an album by a different artist in one sitting. What is one album YOU would recommend doing this with? One person suggested listening to an album in a style you're not familiar with.

3.) Host an iPod party. Listen to music with people, to hear what they hear, how music resonates with them, intersects with their lives, reveals something theological (e.g. about God or humanity).

4.) Attend a live show by a local artist, to intentionally support local and independent musicians.

5.) If you're musical at all, write a new song and share it with at least one person.

6.) Make a piece of art based on one of Sufjan's songs -- either the lyrics, the emotion of the piece, or the atmosphere it creates in your imagination.

7.) Study your own place of origin (this is in response to his Fifty States project; learning how geography informs memory and meaning).

8.) Listen to an album in one sitting with lyrics on paper . With your laptop screen shut, so you're not tempted to be distracted by email or other stuff.

9.) Join Kenton's Bicycle Band; being planned for Critical Mass in April/May 2011. Anyone with a bike and a voice and/or instrument that can be played while riding a bike is welcome. They may try to rehearse in parking garages.

10.) For those that draw or sketch; utilize the idea of the 'one-inch window' to develop attention to detail.

Last night was our second Culture Making Collective evening. This time, our film-geek-in-residence, John Giesbrecht, facilitated a closer look at the films of Darren Aronofsky . Our purpose once again was to think and talk about creative ways in which his art inspires us to be "culture keepers" -- intentionally stewarding good forms of culture. Here's our collaboratively-derived, multiple choice "DO" list -- a bunch of ideas to act on that which inspired us. All who attended (as well as anyone reading this) are invited to pick something from this list and DO it sometime in the next few weeks. After you've done it, we highly encourage you to either comment here or write a full blog post about your experience and send it to me: nelson (at) www.artisanvancouver.ca. Oh, for those who were present last evening, if I've missed any DOs or I've phrased them wrong, please either email me or amend it yourself in the comments section.

1.) Go and see Aronofsky's latest film, Black Swan , on or after December 1. Do this with a group of friends, and then discuss it afterwards.

2.) Watch a movie by yourself, either at home or at a theatre. Choose something you wouldn't normally watch (making sure it's a meritorious, truth-telling film). This enables you to engage a film without being concerned about whether other people are enjoying it or not.

3.) After you've watched a film, sit silently through the entire credit sequence to allow the film to sink in more fully.

4.) Oscar season is upon us! Try to go see as many of the Best Picture nominees before the award show airs in February.

5.) Come to one of the upcoming 'ARTISAN Secret Series' film nights. Stay tuned for more on that.

6.) Make a short film and score it ourselves.

7.) Many within our culture tend to be well-attuned to their favorite actors , caught up in the celebrity buzz. This has its place, of course. And while some of us may long for a world without tabloids, movies can't exist without actors. But something happens when you also begin to watch films through a Director 's eyes. To begin doing this, ask questions like: Why was the action framed in a certain way? Why was that character off-screen while speaking? Why was one scene told with rapid cutting while another consisted of one shot held for five minutes? Why was music used in one scene and not in another? Do we recognize any opposites in the movie (light/dark, good/evil, male/female, etc.)?

8.) Watch a series of films by the same director. Think of one of your favorite films, find out who directed it, and watch more of their work to learn about their style and vision for filmmaking.

9.) Research the people and organizations who finance risk-taking films like Aronofsky's. Anyone know how to find this kind of stuff out?

10.) Read the screenplay of a film before watching it (or the novel on which a movie is based). How would you imagine it being portrayed visually? How did your vision measure up to that of the director?

11.) Watch films by a favorite screenwriter.

12.) Check out Ron Reed's amazing Soul Food Movies blog . As many of you know, Ron is the Artistic Director of Pacific Theatre and a serious movie buff. He's working on a book called 1000 Soul Food Movies: A Guide To Films With A Spiritual Flavour . If you're looking for a trustworthy take on 'films that feed the soul', check out his blog regularly and often.

13.) Re-watch a film you didn't particularly like the first time, but other people you trust really did . How did your experience change after 'giving it another chance'?

I'm slowly reading a great book by the founder of the International Arts Movement (or IAM), Makoto Fujimura. It's called Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture and, alongside Mako's stirring, provocative writing can be found samples of his award-winning art, as well as works by other artists. I had a chance to meet Mako briefly this past February when we went to New York City for the annual IAM Encounter.

This morning I read a section that was too good NOT to quote here. I've headed this post "Refractions #1" because I fully expect to quote Fujimura's work more than just once in this context!

On pp.69-70 he writes:

"Art is an inherently hopeful act, an act that echoes the creativity of the Creator. Every time an architect imagines a new building, an artist envisions the first stroke of a brush on a white canvas, a poet seeks a resonant sound in words, or a choreographer weaves a pause in layers of movements, that act is done in hope; the creator reaches out in hope to call the world into that creation. And what if the creator reaches out to the Creator, the source and origin of creativity? Would not God be delighted? Even if no one else sees that offering, God alone can see. The treasures to be stored up in heaven (Matthew 6:20) can be our creative act done in faith. The Bible tells us the story of this creative God, who treasures his creatures, even as fallen and as desperate as we are. Jesus calls God "our Father in Heaven" (Matthew 6:9), and we are called God's children (Romans 8). The Bible tells us that God rejoices in our acts of creativity, just as any loving father would dote on his child's wild drawings..."

Add a comment

Read more