Reading Response
Image “At my doorstep” by Lui Xoaodong
This chapter told me about the author of the book Emerge by Don Perini. She talked about what it meant to be creative and how she was going to walk us through that journey. Something that stood out to me is she is going to examine how some teachers do better than others, athletes perform better, and even why some famous artists are well known. It made me think about what it takes for people to be more successful than others and how can I achieve that as well. She also explained creativity as something that is new and useful and hopefully I will understand that more through this class.
The book Imagine by Steve Turner looked at the vision for Christians in the Arts. He said that Christians should be active in arts and are typically viewed as less interesting than those that are not. I found him interesting as he took a look at Rock music and how sometimes something could be convincing and of oppression actually had some aspects of beauty in it and I think that says a lot about art as a whole. Not only that but he also said that Christians should be a part of culture and contributing to this so that they could have their views out there challenging things that are wrong. God is not a common subject in this area of life and so it is time to bring it back and explore ways of bringing His hope and understanding here.
Lui Xiaodong is an artist that used what was happening in the world around him as a way to create something. He took his role as an artist to the streets to express what the world looks like through his eyes. I found this video very unique and interesting as his art had a very dark aspect but he thought it needed to be shown. He is telling stories and is feeling for what those people are feeling and feeling it as well. I found it interesting that he was looking at things others might look over and creating something from it and showing the symbolism in that for others to see. This way the viewer or audience of whoever that may be can find substance and relation from the paintings.
