The Stories we Tell Ourselves, in Art

Why paint saints, dreams, and theologies?

I am enjoying a lecture course on great churches- a delightful survey of one and a half thousand years (plus) of architecture, painting, sculpture, and general devotion. At the same time, I am reading an amazing, though much shorter, book on Navajo sand art. The conjunction is curious, possibly fertile, and puts the question forthrightly.. why? Why all this art, and such various art, when the truth of the matter is supposedly not in question, and not susceptible to flattery either. People have, in the past at least, clearly put their best efforts towards sacred arts.

Perhaps the question is simpleminded, but it is to me at least as a non-artist as well as non-religionist, continually mystifying. In the current time, art is rarely inspirational. It may be mystifying, difficult, and expensive, but modern artists rarely pander or glorify- that is the province of lower-brow activities, done in velvet. The best artists interrogate, they don't instruct or celebrate.

The interior of Monreale Cathedral in Palermo, Sicily. It is a blend of Norman, Byzantine, and Islamic styles, with acres of mosaic art.

While Navajo sand art is not done on the scale of cathedrals, it is incredible art just the same. Until the tourist trade, it was never durable, but was performed as part of a healing ritual, during which the patient was placed on the finished painting and contact made with the patient to transmit the magical powers of the symbols, guardians, and deities the shaman had depicted, and to draw off the illness. Its abstraction is totally different from Christian art, which uses a variety of symbols (halos, crosses, fish), but is basically realistic, as its historical conceits are realistic and its story a purported truth in not just spiritual but historical and scientific respects. Not so with Navajo art, which hearkens back to all sorts of indigenous art going back to the Australian dreamtime. This art is incredibly modern and evocative- directly archetypal in its intricate symbology and high design sense.

Every character, color, orientation, and symbol of this sand mandala has significance, and according to the story, (larger myths called "ways", such as the shootingway, blessingway, holyway, etc.), healing power.

But what does all this art do? Religion is at core about ligation (ligare / ligio) between people- connecting us socially and spiritually. It is a shared story- a culturally structuring story that is immensely influential on building our sense of place in the world, and of meaning. Given the fundamental meaninglessness of existence, there are no rules given a priori. There are no human rights, no legal systems, no gods, no norms, .. nothing. We make all these up as part of our social system. So while the rich symbols of Christian or Navajo art may seem absurd, dubious, or playful, they are actually extremely serious as expressions of the cultural structure. 

To see how this works, consider Donald Trump's big lie. He also came up with a culturally structuring story. It functions almost as scripture for his believers. It is a badge of honor as well as a test of allegiance to believe in it. It is obviously false, which makes it even more powerful in those roles. No one needs to structure culture around the story of gravitation- that is given and already in the background. Structuring culture involves beliefs that are a bit more costly- which provide novel "explanations" and restructure reality to generate a new social system. The one Trump is building might not be one we want to live in, but it is a well-worn style of both art (garish, tasteless) and society (authoritarian, cynical, corrupt). 

By feeling the overwhelming impact of gothic cathedrals, you get a sense of the power such art has to beat its story into the viewer. Making sure that everyone understands the story and adheres to it is naturally the first job of any coherent social system. Whether by an inquisition or some less forceful means, cohesion relies on sharing this cultural core. 

We in the US are clearly coming apart in these terms. Religion may not have been our guiding story, but rather an enlightenment optimism, redoubled by the grace of "virgin" lands, rich with resources that have powered our rise to greatness. This culminated in World War 2, the space race, and the landing on the moon. What was supposed to be a New Frontier has turned out to be a sterile wasteland. Space is an incredibly harsh place, far worse than our worst visions of Earth under global warming, or even nuclear war. So that whole story of progress, enlightenment, growth, and limitlessness that was structuring American culture and dreams for decades, (while carried on in fine style by Star Trek), has collapsed in practical terms. 

We need something new, and the current culture war is being fought over that story and its structures. Will we turn to planetary stewardship and social justice? Or will we re-establish a frankly racist Christianity as a way to order society, control women, keep out the riffraff, imagine that no change is needed, reap what resources are left, and leave the future for God to sort out?

• Fear.
• The wages of bullying ... is even Kazakhstan edging away from Russia?
• And is China's bullying enhancing its image and power abroad? This analysis is floridly and absurdly apocalyptic.