Sin, Holiness, and the Anthropocene: Week 5
A note from Joe: Lately I’ve been reading John Green’s bestseller The Anthropocene Reviewed, a series of essays on aspects of modern life and the way they are influenced by contemporary humanity. This series is inspired by that book and recent conversations in various contexts about the concepts of sin and holiness. For a full description of the series, please see this post.
What is it about art that seems to transcend the limits of language and narrative? Why does a painting, a sculpture, a photograph, a song, a poem, or a perfectly plated meal communicate something to us that words can’t quite describe?
Could it be that art helps us remember something that we’ve lost? Could it provide a portal for healing that language alone cannot accomplish?
In terms of our location in the Anthropocene, how does art influence the ways we interact with our physical surroundings…with nature, climate, the planet, and beyond? Could art hold the key to redeeming the damage we’ve done? Could it be therapy for our collective trauma?
This week at New Wineskins we’ll wrap up our “Sin, Holiness, and the Anthropocene” summer series by hearing from artist and visual anthropologist Marlon Hall about art as “Amnesia Therapy” and the ways it catalyzes, nurtures, and informs wholeness in a way nothing else really can.
Archival photo taken in Tulsa as a visual expression of the Phoenix rising from the ashes of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Featured in the Greenwood Art Project Google Art and Culture Exhibition, this image represents the beauty and fire proof essence of the Black Community’s soul.
Please join us this Sunday, Aug. 27, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom for the final session of of “Sin, Holiness, and the Anthropocene” as we examine the ways that art speaks to us, moves us, and ultimately has the power to heal us and make us whole not just as individuals, but as communities…and, possibly, ultimately as the human community.
Click here to view this week’s discussion video (email address required)
6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin
Sin & Holiness in the Anthropocene Series
(Tentative: subject to change)
July 30: Breaking Wholeness: Lisa Sharon Harper on sin as the breaking of relationshipAug. 6: Womanist Theology: Dr. Barbara Holmes on the perspective of Black women in the search for wholenessAug. 13: Pure and Undivided: Cynthia Bourgeault on the oxymoron of personal salvationAug. 20: Hypocrite: Fr. Richard Rohr on our tendency to “act out” Christianity rather than be transformed- Aug. 27: Amnesia Therapy: Marlon Hall on the ways art informs wholeness
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Feature image by Cherry Laithang on Pexels.com
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