Active Seeing

Reflections on Ch. 1 in Robin Jensen The Substance of Things Seen 

"Art isn't just what we do, it is how we live, and who we are." (26)

It is not just about those who create art but also those who experience art. There are artists in this world that create because they have to express something. Artists who have technical experience may create because they are commissioned but no matter what there is always a process and a product.

Sometimes it is the process of creating that is as important, if not more important that the product. For iconographers, the process of writing an icon is vital. The tools, the supplies, and even the whole process is a prayer is a journey.

Liturgical Art can be a part of that holy experience. A prayerful practice.

The process however does not start with a painter but paint on a canvas but in how the painter notices and actively sees.

We are called to be attentive and sightful see-ers of the world. Noticing what is around us; colors, textures, shapes, forms, movement, and anything else. If we are attentive viewers of the world, of our communities, and of the 'translations' or depictions in art than we are looking with more than our heart but with our whole selves.

We cannot afford to be passive viewers. -We need to be attentive and insightful observers, but also attentive and critical observers at all time.

We should not take a utilitarian view of art. It is not for the purpose of being creative, experience. Worship is not to produce or create or make something happen---it is solely for the glory of God. -> Art is a practice, a way of being. The way we live and who we are. (17-18)

But just as we are active see-ers we have to remember not all people see as we do. Not all experience art in the same way. We may be formed and transformed by art but someone else may not be moved. Or the opposite can happen.

There are different understanding of what is beautiful.


Beauty however we apprehend it, draws us to itself. There is an attraction. An experience of beauty causes us to yearn for the transcendent. And beyond that moves us to a response.

If we are active in our seeing than we are drawn to it and will respond in potentially unexpected ways.