tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post3840260167897699445..comments2024-03-01T23:41:02.240-05:00Comments on louie, louie: merton on merton art: "inconsequent", "firmly alien to the program"beth cioffolettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09300116274007165612noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-15877978793624290452007-06-25T07:01:00.000-05:002007-06-25T07:01:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comments, Gabrielle. According to...Thanks for your comments, Gabrielle. According to Lipsey's analysis, Merton was confused about the role of Church art for quite some time, and his attempts to articulate about "sacred" art all fell flat. It wasn't until he, himself, became a visual artist in his own right, with the calligraphies, that he began to come to a better understanding of art and its role in liturgy etc. <BR/><BR/>I like the way he expands the whole notion of Christian freedom too - beyond the "predetemined system of glyphs".beth cioffolettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300116274007165612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-49758675339027510242007-06-24T22:25:00.000-05:002007-06-24T22:25:00.000-05:00Thank you for this post, Beth. It's wonderful to ...Thank you for this post, Beth. It's wonderful to be able to read Merton's thoughts on his own art. What really struck me was the idea of freedom, and Merton's observation that Christian art was already irretrievably "in the system".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-81991048403547999212007-06-22T12:50:00.000-05:002007-06-22T12:50:00.000-05:00He would have been in a fix! His drive for solitu...He would have been in a fix! His drive for solitude and silence even more intense as he balanced it against his compulsive need to write and relate.<BR/><BR/>And he thinks his stack of mail was too high back then! :-)beth cioffolettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300116274007165612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-38508067891426884682007-06-22T11:54:00.000-05:002007-06-22T11:54:00.000-05:00What "looped" me in, as it were, was the phrase "a...What "looped" me in, as it were, was the phrase "alien to the program." It sounds like it could have been written yesterday by a social commentator with reference to our computer-driven society, which has reformulated (reprogrammed) the way we think and interact. What would Merton have done in the age of the computer? That's almost a koan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-72613018013491139342007-06-22T10:39:00.000-05:002007-06-22T10:39:00.000-05:00I like your loop analogy, Barbara. Something zen-...I like your loop analogy, Barbara. Something zen-ish about it. Now that you mention it, I become intrigued with the way he used those words: inconsequent, outside of sequence. Loop-ish, indeed.<BR/><BR/>Yes, there was that interesting twist in Merton the way he clamored for silence and solitude and yet found himself a very public (and popular) figure. Perhaps somehow related to the mystery that it is our weakness/wound (the thing that we want to get rid of and beyond) that becomes our "way".beth cioffolettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300116274007165612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-822894759353679437.post-12590416264175710312007-06-22T09:58:00.000-05:002007-06-22T09:58:00.000-05:00"... one who makes such nondescript marks as these..."... one who makes such nondescript marks as these is conscious of a special vocation to be inconsequent, to be outside the sequence and to remain firmly alien to the program."<BR/><BR/>I love his turn of phrase here. Almost prescient. Reminds me of a cartoon I cut out years ago when I was in a more political position -- that there are 3 types of people: those who are in the loop, those who are outside the loop, and those who don't know there is a loop. Merton perhaps knew there was a loop, but did not find that observation relevant.<BR/><BR/>With Merton there is always that maddening desire to retreat into the life of a complete hermit and the apparent need to put the products of his soul-work in the public eye. In his lifetime, he never seemed to resolve that dichotomy and then complained about how uncomfortable it was to sit on the fence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com