tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114790799428998998.post6035230417514212114..comments2023-05-04T05:07:25.724-07:00Comments on Papa-Pantelis Blessing the Whorehouse.: false arts and fragments.the fallen dervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01965564048049951974noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114790799428998998.post-57435688968217552142012-05-22T14:55:35.504-07:002012-05-22T14:55:35.504-07:00s-p,
Thanks for your thoughts - I happen to agree...s-p,<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughts - I happen to agree with all of them. <br /><br />I think in an American context if we are honest we must recognize that any attempt will be a deviation from the sort of community-aesthetic synergy that Orthodox were able to achieve in other times and places. I don't think we need despair over this, but it might give us pause and reason to be cautious of any building/beautification program which insists that it is the only way things must be done.the fallen dervishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01965564048049951974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114790799428998998.post-13880708433273505262012-05-19T07:49:19.572-07:002012-05-19T07:49:19.572-07:00Another aspect of the notion of "sweat equity...Another aspect of the notion of "sweat equity" in building a community... I know when people help lay a floor or paint walls or haul demolition debris to the dump, they are invested in the local parish in a way that writing a check doesn't match. It seems the small village church had more of that, but the other thing it had was continuity, something American parishes don't. Half the "battles" by new priests in a parish (especially when there is a new building project) regarding design and "art" in established parishes is how to get rid of the neon cross over the royal doors that the parish council's grandfather gave to the church 45 years ago. Heck, we had that kind of stuff within 5 years in our mission. There is an incarnational and "traditional" aspect to preserving what has been given and created by those who laid the foundations and sustained the life that we have now become a part of. However, the dynamism of tradition is that it also reflects the present community's identity and sensibility, but not divorced from what is established. The mobility of the American parish means a new guy with cash who never knew the great grandmother who hand embroidered the aer still used can virtually dictate the aesthetic ethos of a parish. I don't know if there IS a way to change without the danger of discarding or disregarding the past, or how to do it (but still do it) with a clear eye and heart that respects the past and how to incorporate that into the new. And maybe the fact that it IS a problem is reflection enough that the community is at least aware enough to be wrestling with it, and that in itself is a sign of life.Steve Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04319784922747041297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114790799428998998.post-1597678112745757752012-05-18T16:56:05.150-07:002012-05-18T16:56:05.150-07:00I've been sitting on commenting for a week. Th...I've been sitting on commenting for a week. There is a TON of grist here. Having built a lot of stuff for "start up" missions and monasteries, I see the benefit of having a communal effort and sweat equity in the formation of a community. But the reality becomes, once that community is established and needs something beyond the skill sets and capability of the people to build, they have to contract the work out. (Well, not HAVE to... but that means doing without stuff for a LONG time.) I worked on a monastery that the architect was from Serbia and wanted to build the Church out of stone. Well, the Abbess said we don't have Orthodox stone masons and 600 years to build it. So local Mormon contractors did the bulk of the work. If you want a "hand carved" iconstasis you pretty much have to order one from the Balkans carved by who knows who. The capacity of a local Orthodox community in the USA to produce "Orthodox beauty in keeping with Tradition/tradition is a slim margin. Couple that with converts enamored with "traditional" stuff, they'll pay for reproductions of it on canvas with museum quality ink rather than have a local iconographer who learned iconography in America from a 1,000.00 class and may not be able to reproduce the style the parish council has landed on. Do you go 15K a month for 30 years in debt for it built around the personality of the priest? That's scary... where was the Bishop? <br /><br />All that said, I also agree that true, unadulterated beauty shines within some of the most kitzchy and sparse environments. And perhaps that is the saving grace of our theology, beauty saves the world, but it also saves the local American parish that doesn't have the "village" of Greece nor the history of Russia to build a place that reflects an historical presence whether the product is a humble chapel or a humongous cathedral.Steve Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04319784922747041297noreply@blogger.com