Preparing for INTERACT
As you begin your time together make sure to introduce any newcomers to the group!
Then open up the discussion with this starter question:
What is the main material* you work with in your creative practice? What interests you about working with this material?
*material can mean many things - including text, space, traditional or even digital materials
INTERACT//The Arts
In this 2009 work by artist Antony Gormley, visitors were invited to come and transform a 100-tonne cube of clay laid out at the centre of a dome. Gormley constructed the initial clay mass, and controlled the variables during the work, but gave creative control over its transformation. Participants took pieces of clay and worked individually and collectively to respond to and shape the clay - transforming the work over days and weeks. The work interrogates the relationship between artist, participant, and viewer - moving visitors from being passive spectators to active collaborators. Read more about the work here. Gormley was also interviewed about the work and how it related to human behaviour - check this interview out.
Discuss:
What are your initial reflections on this work?
How does Gormley change the relationship between the material, the artist and the viewer in this work?
What is your experience of 'collaboration' in your practice? Is it something you find helps or frustrates your creative process? Why?
INTERACT//The Word
Read Genesis 1 v 27-31
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Read Genesis 2 v 10-23
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
Short Reflection:
God is the ultimate Creator, but God delights in extending an invitation to human beings to share in His creative work. Humanity is given a special place in creation, sculpted lovingly in God's Image to have a relationship with Him and to take care of His world. God invites humanity to go and explore the world, care for it, and be fruitful. Fruitfulness is only fully possible, Genesis 2 shows us, once a second human is created to partner with Adam. Eve is created and introduced as a powerful companion and collaborator, different from Adam (a reflection of God's delight in diversity), but united in the same mandate of creative stewardship. Together they are to work to establish a human society living under God's rule and working to nurture the garden that God has given to them.
The language of 'subdue' and 'rule' that mankind is invited into in 1v28 might make us a little uncomfortable, but God is not inviting them to oppress His creation - far from it! Rather, he invites them to become gentle and good stewards who tend to creation so that it flourishes. This is clarified in Genesis 2 v 15, as we see the task is one of care. The invitation to humanity is not dissimilar to what we see happening in Anthony Gormley's 'Clay and the Collective Body'. God has given us the raw materials and the invitation to create - and then encourages us to collectively unearth the full potential of the world through the creativity He has given us.
Discuss:
What are the contrasts and similarities between how God creates and how humanity is invited to create (think back to last week's study)?
What materials does God give Adam and Eve to work with, and how are they to work with them?
If you haven't already discussed, language plays a key part in how Adam and Eve begin to engage with each other and creation (notably in 2 v 19-20 and 23).
Considering the role of language in this passage:
a. What is significant about the act of naming in v19-20?
b. What does Adam's poem teach us about possible purposes of human creativity?
Get Creative: Artists and art movements have often come up with 'manifestos', how would you summarise Genesis 2 into a manifesto for human creativity and stewardship.
INTERACT//Ourselves and Others
How does God's invitation to humanity to steward his creation:
a. encourage you in our creative practice?
b. humble you in your creative practice?
Consider your own creative practice, what is the relationship between your creativity and God's creativity as you make?
It is clear that 'caring for creation', continuing the 'goodness' of God's creation, and 'being fruitful' are core principles for our creative stewardship - what might it look like to apply these principles in your own approach to making?
Wrapping Up
Could you as an Arts Hub plan to host a skill-sharing event or workshop where you share your creative gifts with others? Could you use this to share what the Christian faith has to say about being 'Good Stewards'?
Prayer to finish:
Father God, thank you that you have created us to be your Image bearers. Thank you that as a part of that we are invited to celebrate your world and glorify you through our creativity. Help us to recognise our calling as artists and creatives who are able to do this in a particularly focused way! May we be good stewards who care for the world you have given us, seeking to be fruitful and to use our creativity to glorify you and to dignify others. Enable us to do that as the ultimate Creator.
Amen.