As the Dawn Turns to Sunset

Today's Artists' Lab began with an interesting question. Why are you artists? asked Rabbi Davis. The answers flew out, tripping over and jostling each other, as we each weighed in on what drove us to create art.

A way to understand the world, a thinking process, a distillation, a clarification, a way of seeing, a lens on the world

A process of feeling, sensitivity, refining and maximizing the senses that we have, a spiritual experience

A full possession of body and mind, an alignment

A way to communicate, to observe and confront questions

Some of us weighed the thinking side more heavily, others the feeling, some saw it as a way to align thinking and feeling and for many the communication to others is equally important. One of the observations that I found most meaningful is that it isn't static.

When I reflect on my own experience as an artist I think about the early days when I painted just for me, because it gave me pleasure and stilled and focused an over active mind. At its best it was a meditation and occasionally I created something that delighted me, that left me a bit amazed that it was my creation. That evolved into a communication to others. Enough so that I overcame my reluctance to speak publicly because it was more important that I give my artwork voice. What drove me as an artist grew and changed as I grew and changed and I suspect that was true for each of us.

As I pondered these issues, I realized that we had switched directions to review a passage by Michael Fishbane in the book Sacred Attunement. Fishbane speaks of the ruptures of our everyday routines that can happen through a jolt, perhaps a sudden death, an intense love or an creation of culture. He posits that these experiences can change us and through that charged moment direct us towards a course of action. Artwork too can act as a crossing point to challenge our daily awareness. He then contrasts artwork with theology which he believes experiences all of existence as filled with crossing points.

We contrasted this rather dense passage with a commentary by Bahya, an early rabbi, on Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1) Bahya writes of Mose's growing perception of the burning bush as he gradually distinguishes the fire, the angel and the presence of God. The text talks of the goal of knowing God and describes the nature of the pursuit as "not all at once, but gradually 'as the dawn slowly but surely turns to sunrise'.

Is the creative experience a rupture or more akin to dawn turning to sunrise? The general consensus was with Bahya.

For the creative portion of our exploration we were joined by Elisa Berry Fonseca who shared her artwork which focuses upon light and also makes use of wire to create spatial drawings. Elisa also shared a number of artists with us who create artwork using light. Among the better known ones are James Turell who makes use of the physicality of light while Dan Flavin used light as a painterly medium. She shared Andy Goldsworthy who used snow and ice in a series of artwork and reminded us of Jim Hodges whose work is currently at the Walker Art Institute. Elisa also noted artists who make use of everyday elements in their artwork. Among them is Tara Donovan (see left) who uses styrofoam cups joined together to form large organic forms that interact with light. I observed her work at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and found it quite stunning.

Other artists she shared included Olafur Eliasson, Aurora Robson, Alyson Shotz, and Soo Sunny Park.

We were then turned loose with wire and translucent colored materials to create our own sculptures. Add light and voila!

To view information on lab artists and lab discussion links and handouts, please go to theJewish Artists' Laboratory website.

*The Jewish Artists’ Laboratory is an arts initiative through the Sabes Jewish Community Center featuring 25 artists exploring the theme of Light through study and art making. The project is funded through The Covenant Foundation and similar projects are being done in both Milwaukee and Madison. Artists explore how the theme of Light is relevant to Jews and non-Jews, to religious and non-religious, to the community and to the individual, to the artist and the non-artist.

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Making It Our Own

I just returned from a trip to the West Coast where I had an opportunity to visit the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. With Passover approaching, they had a timely exhibition on the beautiful Haggadah illustrations of Arthur Szyk. Szyk created his Haggadah in the 1930s as Hitler came to power and often incorporated imagery related to the troubled state of the Jews of Europe. His work represented the preservation of the Pesach story, but adapted to the times in which he lived.

My return to the Artists' Lab picked up on that exploration with another dive into the Haggadah. To set the stage our facilitator Meryll Page shared several stories with us to illustrate the assumptions that we carry that may not be universal. She related a story of a local rabbi who was a chaplain in Morocco in the 1950s. When Passover was approaching the local people offered to cook a Pesach meal for them. All they needed to do was to share the recipes. Their assumptions were obviously not universal. They ended up with gefilte fish floating in the matzo ball soup.

The Pesach story has been handed down to us and with its passage through time incorporates issues that modern day eyes may find challenging. The assumptions that may have been the norm in earlier times may no longer be as shared by today's world. We were asked to consider how we approach parts of the story that may be repugnant to us. For example plagues were visited upon the Egyptians, plagues that ultimately destroyed their first-born child. How can we rejoice in that destruction? 

Over time we have created adaptations that seek to acknowledge that discomfort. As we count off the plagues, we dip our finger in the wine and spill a drop. This reminds us that our cup of joy is not complete because people had to die for our freedom. 

The Seder has developed in response to such issues. Each of us can make it our own. Meryll noted that there are five approaches that are often taken when we encounter a conflict with modern day sensibilities.

1 Study the word more.
2 Think of alternatives. For example there are actually two beginnings, one which deals with physical slavery and one which addresses spiritual slavery.
3 Replace something real with symbol. Today we use a lamb bone instead of slaughtering a lamb.
4 Avoid it. We don't paint blood on our door posts.
5 Make it child friendly.

In the spirit of adaptation, Anat led us in an exercise to add two additional commandments to the original ten. The exercise was inspired by a section of a poem by Yehuda Amichai that begins with My Father Was a God and Didn't Know It (#4 of My Parent's Motel). We debated the meaning of the additional commandments in the poem. Our translation differed slightly from this link with #11 Thou shall not change and #12 Thou must surely change. I understand this to mean one is to preserve the essence of who one is, but continue to grow and develop in response to one's environment, an interpretation quite consistent with our treatment of the Pesach story.

So what were our additions? Caring for the environment loomed large as well as kindness and not being passive or silent in the face of injustice. There were fewer "thou shalt nots", reflecting a call to action, less focus on sins of commission, more on those of omission. One spoke to me personally in encompassing all of the issues we raised, "Seek out and treat all of creation with an eye to its divine origins".

As we concluded our exploration of adaption, Anat shared a site with us created by Madonna on the theme of freedom. The focus is especially timely with Pesach approaching as its purpose is to encourage creative expressions that bring attention to human rights violations.

 To view information on lab artists and lab discussion links and handouts, please go to theJewish Artists' Laboratory website.

*The Jewish Artists’ Laboratory is an arts initiative through the Sabes Jewish Community Center featuring 25 artists exploring the theme of Light through study and art making. The project is funded through The Covenant Foundation and similar projects are being done in both Milwaukee and Madison. Artists explore how the theme of Light is relevant to Jews and non-Jews, to religious and non-religious, to the community and to the individual, to the artist and the non-artist.