vocation, vocation, vocation

What makes art transformative? Is it a process? Art can approach democracy, but as I learned in my Middler review, perhaps it cannot ever be completely democratic. So, is transformative art about its content? Do paintings of Christ being pulled down from the cross have the same transformative power that the text on the same story did/does? Is that enough? It is style? It is commentary? It is spirit? Is it context?

These are questions that I ask on a theoretical level, and that I hope to approach, and do sometimes, on a practical level.

This week, I am reading writing from the peasants of Solentiname for my art and liberation class. This community was transformed by the gospel story. They teach me that faith is about life, not about belief, and I am challenged by Olivia to remember that as holy week approaches:

“I believe that if the Gospel were preached and discussed everywhere as it is in Solentiname, there’d be an end to that ridiculous Holy Week they have. Instead of those traditional ceremonies and prayers that they commemorate the death of Jesus with, everybody would go into action to see what we can do for each other…”

Can art be a tool in that discussion, that interpretation that makes the Gospel transformative?