Cynicism has so pervaded the art world in recent years that it is refreshing to come upon a set of ideas about contemporary art and artists that gives a radically different view.
Just such ideas are held by Matthew Fox, the Dominican priest and author who in 1978 founded the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality at Mundelein College in Chicago.
Back then, Fox was the only churchman to speak at length about the links between art and spirituality, and he has since weathered a one-year Vatican silencing for heretical views (which had nothing to do with his views on the arts) to regain his position as one of North America`s most provocative speakers on the role of art in contemporary life.
Now 51, Fox spreads his word from Holy Names College in Oakland, Calif., where he moved his institute nearly a decade ago. But he also is a great traveler and this week will speak here in relation to ”The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes,” the large exhibition of pre-Columbian art at the Art Institute of Chicago.
That setting is appropriate, as Fox`s ideas have a largeness that was common in many ancient cultures:
”I see our species undergoing a movement from one cosmology to another,” he said. ”And this I see as an invitation for art to move to center stage again in our educational and worship experiences. What we`re about today, I think, is a Renaissance comparable to that of the 12th Century. ”The 12th Century was a time of scientific revolution. Aristotle introduced a different way of seeing the universe, of seeing ourselves in relation to matter. This interest in the universe and not just the privatized soul was what woke up people like Hildegard of Bingen and Francis of Assisi. A tremendous burst of creativity happened in the arts, in science, in education and religion. And architecture like Chartres Cathedral represented the best of that soul.
”I think a lot of those elements are at work right now. We have a new science that is much more mystical than anything we had in the Newtonian era. A key to it is the interconnectivity of all things. For example, the idea that the universe had been set up for life from the first second of a fireball that began 17 billion years ago is really filling scientists with awe, so much so that the most interesting mystical work today is being written by scientists expressing their yearning for cosmology.”
Fox cites the writings of biologist Rupert Sheldrake and physicists Paul Davies, Brian Swimme and David Bhome as representing the new union of mysticism and science. But he also says that is not enough. Artists must put the stories from science into our imagination before we will be able to reshape cultural and political institutions.
Fox maintains art is a language for expressing mysticism and awe as well as issues of healing, justice and injustice. Like Picasso`s ”Guernica,” art should ”tell the truth” about being human and being in the world. In short, art is central to human development.
”But look at what our cultural values have made of it,” said Fox. ”Art is often put on the side or made elitist. And it`s the first thing dropped when there`s a budget crunch in our school system. We have a prejudice in mainline culture in America that art is for weekends or for someone else and that it is not important.
”Imagine, back in the 12th Century a university meant literally a place you went to try to find your place in the universe. Well, compare that to what it is today. You find your place in the sociology department or the history department or the art department. And, you see, that trivializes art. To me, art is the energy to awaken the human mind and soul.”
Fox believes that all people are, in some measure, artists. A few are more gifted or talented and become what he terms full-time artists. But others become what traditionally might be called spiritual directors, people who assist others in the development of their inner lives, their souls.
Being an artist is not, then, a matter of creating material goods. Fox avers the artistic process has as its product the man or woman who goes through it. There is no separation between art and life. The one gives shape and meaning to the other.
”Today`s cynicism shows we are at the end of an era,” said Fox. ”To me, an artist like Jeff (Koons) indicates decadence. But decadence clears the field for a whole new thing. It`s like a forest fire. We have to pay attention to the shoots that come up after the fire and let the decadence go because it speaks for itself.
”Do you know Suzi Gablik`s book, `The Re-Enchantment of Art`? I think she`s playing in the field I`m talking about. She is conscious of the paradigm shift from the Newtonian model to interconnectivity and the bringing in of the feminine principle, which is happening in science and in art and everyplace where there`s life today.
”Deconstruction, like demythologizing, is only the beginning. The next stage is remythologizing and reconstruction, giving birth. I think we are at an in-between stage, but it could break through at any moment. The artists I listen to are making connections in their dreams and in their works, they`re making shifts that incorporate the cosmologies not just of today but of the ancient peoples.”
Fox believes that the art of ancient peoples is powerful because the cultures did not put man at the center of the universe and, instead, maintained a larger cosmological view. One can only regain a meaningful sense of the whole when the individual ego is taken into something greater than itself.
He recalled a meeting about a year ago with 30 scientists and artists who convened to discuss the new creation theory. At the end of three days, everyone was surprised that sessions had proceeded with virtually no displays of temperament. That, Fox said, was because the subject was so much larger than the egos that tried to absorb it. In academia or business or the art world there would have been competition and envy.
But how do artists prepare themselves for this new, more positive world view?
”That`s what`s missing from art schools,” Fox said. ”They don`t give that preparation. Along with teaching technique, they should provide some spiritual practices, meditation, forms of ritual. It might be Tai Chi or yoga. But what I usually use is circle dancing, Sufi dancing and so on.
”In addition to the right brain, the artist must develop the left brain and heart. The heart is always about body work, breathing; all meditation is essentially about breathing. This is a great help. Art schools should be drawing on traditions of the entire world when it comes to spiritual practices.
”I myself see all art as spiritual. Anything that`s waking people up, that`s increasing awe, that`s healing because it is telling us the truth of things or the beauty of things or the tragedy of things-I see all this as spiritual. All of it contributes to an inner process that leads to seeing the world differently.”
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Matthew Fox will speak at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Rubloff Auditorium of the Art Institute. Admission: $3. For reservations call 312-855-3105.
