Love and Death [Woody Allen] – What if there is no God? [PL]
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How Should We then Live Episode 7 small (Age of Nonreason)
#02 How Should We Then Live? (Promo Clip) Dr. Francis Schaeffer
Francis Schaeffer “BASIS FOR HUMAN DIGNITY” Whatever…HTTHR
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Francis Schaeffer pictured below:
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I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. Today again I hope to show how the secular humanist person can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Let me show you some inescapable conclusions that Francis Schaeffer said you will face if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”
- Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
- Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
- Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
- Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).
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Just like Hugh Hefner you will fail in getting satisfaction in life without God in the picture and like Solomon you will become depressed and many very learned people have discussed this issue such as Will Durant, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Stephen Jay Gould,Richard Dawkins, Jean-Paul Sartre,Bertrand Russell, Leo Tolstoy, Loren Eiseley,Aldous Huxley, G.K. Chesterton, Ravi Zacharias, and C.S. Lewis.
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The hallmark of the Enlightenment had been “Reason Is King.” The leading thinkers had consciously rejected the need for revelation. As Paul Hazard in European Thought in the Eighteenth Century says, they put Christianity on trial.91
Gradually, however, the problems of this enthronement of human reason emerged. The reason of man was not big enough to handle the big questions, and what man was left with relative knowledge and relative morality. The noose around the humanist’s neck tightened with every passing decade and generation.
What would he do?
Ironically, even though the basis of the humanists’ whole endeavor had been the central importance of man’s reason, when faced with the problems of relative knowledge and relative morality they repudiated reason. Rather than admit defeat in front of God’s revelation, the humanists extended the revolution further – and in a direction which would have been quite unthinkable to their eighteenth-century predecessors. Modern irrationalism was born.
We could go back as far as Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) in philosophy and to Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) in theology. Modern existentialism is also related to Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). However, our intention here is neither to go into the history of irrationalism, nor to examine the proponents of existentialism in our own century, but rather to concentrate on its main thesis. It is this that confronts us on all sides today, and it is impossible to understand modern man without understanding this concept.
Because we shall be using several terms a great deal now, we would ask the reader to attend carefully. When we speak of irrationalism or existentialism or the existential methodology, we are pointing to a quite simple idea. It may have been expressed in a variety of complicated ways by philosophers, but it is not a difficult concept.
Imagine that you are at the movies watching a suspense film. As the story unfolds, the tension increases until finally the hero is trapped in some impossible situation and everyone is groaning inwardly, wondering how he is going to get out of the mess. The suspense is heightened by the knowledge (of the audience, not the hero) that help is on the way in the form of the good guys. The only question is: will the good guys arrive in time?
Now imagine for a moment that the audience is slipped the information that there are no good guys, that the situation of the hero is not just desperate, but completely hopeless. Obviously, the first thing that would happen is that the suspense would be gone. You and the entire audience would simply be waiting for the axe to fall.
If the hero faced the end with courage, this would be morally edifying, but the situation itself would be tragic. If, however, the hero acted as if help were around the corner and kept buoying himself up with this thought (“Someone is on the way!” – “Help is at hand!”), all you could feel for him would be pity. It would be a means to keep hope alive within a hopeless situation. The hero’s hope would change nothing on the outside; it would be unable to manufacture, out of nothing, good guys coming to the rescue. All it would achieve would the hero’s own mental state of hopefulness rather than hopelessness.
The hopefulness itself would rest on a lie or an illusion and thus, viewed objectively, would be finally absurd. And if the hero really knew what the situation was, but consciously used the falsehood to buoy up his feelings and go whistling along, we would either say, “Poor guy!” or “He’s a fool.” It is this kind of conscious deceit that someone like Woody Allen has looked full in the face and will have none of.
Now this is what the existential methodology is about. If the universe we are living in is what the materialistic humanists say it is, then with our reason (when we stop to think about it) we could find absolutely no way to have meaning or morality or hope or beauty. This would plunge us into despair. We would have to take seriously the challenge of Albert Camus (1913-1960) in the first sentence of The Myth of Sisyphus: “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”92 Why stay alive in an absurd universe? Ah! But that is not where we stop. We say to ourselves – “There is hope!” (even though there is no help). “We shall overcome!” (even though nothing is more certain than that we shall be destroyed, both individually at death and cosmically with the end of all conscious life). This is what confronts us on all sides today: the modern irrational-ism.
How Should We then Live Episode 7 small (Age of Nonreason)
Featured artists are Allora & Calzadilla
[ARTS 315] Course Introduction: Introducing the Avant-Garde – Jon Anderson
Published on Apr 5, 2012
Contemporary Art Trends [ARTS 315], Jon Anderson
Course Introduction: Introducing the Avant-Garde
August 26, 2011
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2nd in series
[ARTS 315] Postmodern Strategies: The Canvas as an Arena: Jackson Pollock – Jon Anderson
Published on Apr 5, 2012
Contemporary Art Trends [ARTS 315], Jon Anderson
The Canvas as an Arena: Jackson Pollock
August 26, 2011
Uploaded on Oct 11, 2011
Washington and Lee University alumnus Tom Wolfe presented a lecture on Modern Art during the 60th reunion of his class, the Class of 1951, held on the campus in September 2011
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Allora & Calzadilla magnify areas of political tension in the public realm through a wide-ranging body of work. They identify and stress the hairline fractures in societal systems – nationhood, environmentalism, states of war and resistance – through performance, sculpture, sound, video and photography. Meticulous researchers both, an understanding of material is central to their practice and they home in on its symbolic dimension, tracing the many marks of history, culture and politics. In the alternative monument Chalks (1998–2006), pieces of this most fragile and soluble of materials were scaled up to man-size and placed in public squares in Lima, New York and Paris, inviting passersby to take part in a collective drawing that would quickly disappear underfoot. Elsewhere the human body itself bears the marks of history: in the series of videos about the Caribbean island of Vieques, controlled by the US government since the 1940s and where locals were displaced for an environmentally disastrous military exclusion zone. In Half Mast\Full Mast (2010), a split channel video is unified by a flagpole aligned between two images that show sites of victory or loss; one gymnast at a time enters either top or bottom screen and physically raises his body to a 90-degree angle, a human flag at either full or half-mast. This image, like many of the duo’s works, balloons with irony or absurdity to what the artists call a ‘monstrous dimension’.
Allora & Calzadilla live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1974, Jennifer Allora received a BA from the University of Richmond in Virginia (1996) and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2003). Guillermo Calzadilla was born in 1971 in Havana, Cuba and received a BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1996) and an MFA from Bard College (2001). Collaborating since 1995, Allora & Calzadilla represented the USA in the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). Solo exhibitions include Indianapolis Museum of Art (2012), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2008), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008), Kunsthalle Zurich (2007) and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2004). Among numerous group exhibitions, they participated in documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); the 29th São Paulo Biennial (2010) and Performance 9 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011).
Allora & Calzadilla
| Allora & Calzadilla | |
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Allora & Calzadilla, “Stop Repair, Prepare”, 2008
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| Born | Jennifer Allora March 20, 1974 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Guillermo Calzadilla January 10, 1971 Havana, Cuba |
| Field | performance, sculpture, video and sound |
| Training | Jennifer Allora: University of Richmond, Virginia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Guillermo Calzadilla: Escuela de Artes Plasticas, San Juan and Bard College |
Jennifer Allora (born 20 March 1974) and Guillermo Calzadilla (born 10 January 1971) are a collaborative duo of visual artists who live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They represented the USA in the 2011 Venice Biennale.
Contents
Work and career
Jennifer Allora was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; she received a BA from the University of Richmond in Virginia (1996), a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003 and was a fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program.[1]
Guillermo Calzadilla was born in Havana, Cuba; he received a BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1996) and an MFA from Bard College in 2001.[1]
The artists met while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. They have worked together since 1995.
In 2007, Allora and Calzadilla exhibited at the Renaissance Society. The show included compositions from ten other Chicago-area musicians.[2]
In 2008 Allora & Calzadilla were featured in the PBS series Art:21.[3]
Allora & Calzadilla participated in the 5th and 7th Gwangju Biennale (2004 and 2008).
The artists were finalists for the Hugo Boss Prize in 2005. Their works are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Centre Georges Pompidou, among others.
Allora & Calzadilla have also been shortlisted for London’s 2011 Fourth Plinth commission. Fourth Plinth
Allora & Calzadilla have collaboratively produced an expansive interdisciplinary body of work including sculpture, photography, performance, sound and video. Their artistic practice engages with history and contemporary geo-political realities, destabilizing and re-ordering them in ways that can be alternately humorous, poetic, and revelatory. Their work has been featured in solo exhibitions internationally, including Haus der Kunst, Münich (2008),[4] Serpentine Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2007),[5] Les Rencontres d’Arles festival, France (2008), Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2008),[6] Kunsthalle Zurich (2007),[7] National Museum of Art, Oslo (2009) [8] and the Renaissance Society, Chicago (2007).[9]
2011 Venice Biennale
On September 8, 2010, the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced the selection of Allora & Calzadilla as the American representative to the 2011 Venice Biennale,[10] marking the first time for artists living in Puerto Rico represent the U.S. The Indianapolis Museum of Art will present their work, which will consist of 6 new commissions. In The Brooklyn Rail, writer David St.-Lascaux describes the pavilion installation Gloria: “First, there’s the tank, lying upside down in the gravel. Then there’s the architrave: STATI UNITI D’AMERICA, in Trajan column capitals. And then there’s the 7’6” copy of the U.S. Capitol’s crowning Statue of Freedom, in blackened bronze, lying inside the ‘Solaris 442 sun bed.'”[11]
Other Awards & Grants
- 2007 Rencontres d’Arles Discovery Award laureate, France.
- 2006 Nam June Paik Award Finalist[12]
- 2006 Hugo Boss Prize Finalist[13]
- 2004 Gwangju Biennial Prize[14]
- 2002 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant[15]
- 2000-2001 Cintas Fellowship[16]
- 2008 DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Berlin
Literature
- Michel Feher (ed.) Non-Governmental Politics], Zone Books & the MIT Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-890951-74-0[17]
- Yates McKee, “Allora & Calzadilla. The monstrous dimension of art,” Flash Art, Milan, no. 240, January–February 2005.
- J.J. Charlesworth, “Allora & Calzadilla: Power Plays,” Art Review, London, Issue 15, October 2007.
- Tom McDonough, “Use What Sinks: Allora & Calzadilla,” Art in America, New York City, no. 1, January 2008.
- Yates McKee, “Wake, Vestige, Survival: Sustainability and the Politics of the Trace in Allora and Calzadilla’s Land Mark”, October #133, MIT Press, summer 2010.
Reviews and criticism
The Year in Art: Times are Tough? Bring on Vermeer and the Pianos by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, December 20, 2009 [18]
Art in Review: Allora & Calzadilla by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, January 30, 2009[19]
Allora & Calzadilla by Ingrid Chu, Frieze Online Blog, February 23, 2009 [20]
Trumpets and Turtles by Sally O’Reilly, Frieze, Issue 108, June-August 2007[21]
Sound Tracks: Hannah Feldman on the Art of Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla by Hannah Feldman, Artforum, May 2007[22]
References
- ^ Jump up to: a b PBS Art21
- Jump up ^ Allora and Calzadilla at the Renaissance Society
- Jump up ^ Art:21
- Jump up ^ Haus der Kunst, Munich
- Jump up ^ Serpentine Gallery
- Jump up ^ Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
- Jump up ^ Kunsthalle Zurich
- Jump up ^ National Museum of Art, Oslo
- Jump up ^ Renaissance Society
- Jump up ^ U.S. Department of State “Allora & Calzadilla to Represent United States at 54th Venice Art Biennale” Retrieved September 9, 2010
- Jump up ^ St.-Lascaux, David (Jul-Aug 2011). “Allora & Calzadilla: Gloria”. The Brooklyn Rail.
- Jump up ^ http://www.namjunepaikaward.de/njp_award_06/e/content.htm
- Jump up ^ http://www.dexigner.com/news/6154
- Jump up ^ 2004 Gwangju Biennial Prize
- Jump up ^ http://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/P&S02.html
- Jump up ^ http://www.cintasfoundation.org/
- Jump up ^ Michel Feher (ed. by). Non-Governmental Politics, Zone Books & the MIT Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-890951-74-0
- Jump up ^ The New York Times, December 20, 2009.
- Jump up ^ The New York Times, January 30, 2009.
- Jump up ^ Frieze Online Blog, February 23, 2009.
- Jump up ^ Frieze, Issue 108, June-August 2007.
- Jump up ^ Artforum, May 2007
External links
- Galerie Chantal Crousel: Allora & Calzadilla
- Gladstone Gallery: Allora & Calzadilla
- Kurimanzutto Gallery: Allora & Calzadilla
- Lisson Gallery: Allora & Calzadilla
- Allora & Calzadilla Interview with Carlos Motta. Online resources include video Returning a Sound (2004)
- Allora & Calzadilla in artfacts
- Allora & Calzadilla at Kunstverein Munchen and Haus der Kunst
- TateShots at the Venice Biennale 2011: Allora and Calzadilla at the American Pavilion 9 June 2011
- Allora & Calzadilla’s profile at Kadist Art Foundation
- Allora & Calzadilla Kapsul Image Collection
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Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 10 “Final Choices” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 1 0 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode X – Final Choices 27 min FINAL CHOICES I. Authoritarianism the Only Humanistic Social Option One man or an elite giving authoritative arbitrary absolutes. A. Society is sole absolute in absence of other absolutes. B. But society has to be […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 9 “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 9 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode IX – The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence 27 min T h e Age of Personal Peace and Afflunce I. By the Early 1960s People Were Bombarded From Every Side by Modern Man’s Humanistic Thought II. Modern Form of Humanistic Thought Leads […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 8 “The Age of Fragmentation” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 8 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VIII – The Age of Fragmentation 27 min I saw this film series in 1979 and it had a major impact on me. T h e Age of FRAGMENTATION I. Art As a Vehicle Of Modern Thought A. Impressionism (Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 7 “The Age of Non-Reason” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 7 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VII – The Age of Non Reason I am thrilled to get this film series with you. I saw it first in 1979 and it had such a big impact on me. Today’s episode is where we see modern humanist man act […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 6 “The Scientific Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 Uploaded by NoMirrorHDDHrorriMoN on Oct 3, 2011 How Should We Then Live? Episode 6 of 12 ________ I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 5 How Should We Then Live? Episode 5: The Revolutionary Age I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Francis Schaeffer noted, “Reformation Did Not Bring Perfection. But gradually on basis of biblical teaching there […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 4 “The Reformation” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode IV – The Reformation 27 min I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer makes three key points concerning the Reformation: “1. Erasmian Christian humanism rejected by Farel. 2. Bible gives needed answers not only as to […]
“Schaeffer Sundays” Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance”
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance” Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 3) THE RENAISSANCE I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer really shows why we have so […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 2 “The Middle Ages” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 2) THE MIDDLE AGES I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer points out that during this time period unfortunately we have the “Church’s deviation from early church’s teaching in regard […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 1 “The Roman Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 1) THE ROMAN AGE Today I am starting a series that really had a big impact on my life back in the 1970′s when I first saw it. There are ten parts and today is the first. Francis Schaeffer takes a look at Rome and why […]
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