Mormon Art

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_Gadianton
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Post by _Gadianton »

Edited to add: You know, I have to say that I find quite peculiar the pictures of the temples which people hang in their homes. Why is this something that merits home display? Are these images genuinely supposed to function as "art"? Are they symbols of obedience? Reminders that help TBMs to remain docile and loyal to the Church?


A great question. And one that the Encyclopedia of Mormonism can once again shed light on.

http://www.lightplanet.com/Mormons/art/Art_EOM.htm

Because Mormon art has been primarily oriented toward service in the Church, much of it has been didactic.


I would think pictures of the temple follow this trend of Mormon art in general.

Again, a shout-out to art as totalitarian propaganda:

President Spencer W. Kimball (1972-1985), have challenged Church members to develop their artistic talents so that they can tell the story of the Church in art. Many LDS artists have accepted the challenge and are trying to create art that is both instructive and spiritually inspiring.


Even though LDS artists have been aware of contemporary trends in art, they have generally chosen not to follow the current avant-garde fashion.


Or rather, they tend to work within church-approved forms toward church approved ends.

Another point worth throwing out is that the art found commonplace in church materials and within church buildings is strikingly similar to socialist realism.
_harmony
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Post by _harmony »

Moniker wrote: A friend of mine, when I was a teen, was LDS but I wasn't allowed in her home. :(


Oh, for keeeycrying out loud! Why not?
_huckelberry
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Post by _huckelberry »

I do not have a lot of familiarity with Mormon art.Thre are the pictures in the Book of Mormon.

I followed the links provided above for a quick refresher. I do not suppose Blixa would find much very satisfying there. Instead of any journey of discovery there is something else. It is very hard to approach such things without a lot of personal attitudes determing things. I do not respond very much to all the sentimentalism. I am practiced in seeing that is staying inside a small closet in the back of ones mind. perhaps others would feel entirely different.

I looked at some Minerva Teichert pictures. I had not seen them before. They seem in some ways a nice change of place. Colors, or at least a little instead of beige. Shapes rather lively,artist must have some urge to dance. Women figures all drawn with no center. I suspect some viewers may choose to ignore that entirely. It speaks to me as at the heart of the matter.

I looked at a bronze by somebody else of Christ and the woman at the well. It spoke directly of what all I find repugnant in LDS theology. Christ is a big overbaring figure with no actual connection to the woman but the ablitiy to dominate. The woman is a mere child tiny and bowing away. I find this a dreadful image. When I read the story I imagine nothing remotely like that. Will I be able to continue after being infected with this dreadful image?
_Blixa
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Post by _Blixa »

Mister Scratch wrote:
Blixa wrote:---Neil LaBute and Brian Evenson: argh, I really don't want to go there. I'm glad LaBute "woke up" but if I had the time and the masochistic drive I'd write a lenthy critique of his work which tied the worst of his pretend-critique-of-misogyny misogyny, pretend-critique-of-homophobia homophobia and pretend-critique-of-class-prejudice class prejudice explicity to his Mormonism. I'd probably blame his crappy sense of humor on Mormonism, too. Evenson? Let's just say I was profoundly nonplussed by "The Open Curtain." I can't imagine how someone could so badly bungle such a great bit of historical material.


Well, I for one would be interested in seeing the critique. Like you, I have felt like there really was some kind of connection with Mormonism in the very disturbing violence/homophobia/misogyny in this work. I'm not quite sure what that connection *is*, though. Perhaps it's worth noting that one doesn't tend to find these same preoccupations in works on Mormonism created by outsiders or nevermos, such as the portrayal of LDS in Angels in America, or even Big Love. (Or is one of those guys an exmo?) Then there was September Dawn, which dealt with violence, but wasn't interested in plumbing it so deeply, as is the case with Evenson (at least in Altmann's Tongue.)

Another point to be made has to do with the large number of films on Mormonism which have been suppressed by the Church. Hollywood tried several times to do films on various Mormon-related subject, only to have the productions squelched somehow by the LDS Church. (A more recent example would be the made-for-TV movie about Mark Hoffman.)


Hmmm..ok well, I'll think about it. Its not like I have enough to do already : ) But, if I made it into a different kind of essay---one which also took on Mormonism/literature in a much broader sense, so I can deal with the kind of portrayals you mention (Angels in America etc) then I think I could find it more worth doing. In fact, the more I think about it the more interesting is sounds. Trouble is, I sorta made a pact with myself (and spouse) to "drop Mormonism" after I get my book done.

Also embedded in your remarks is the enigma of Mark Hoffman---I have some questions about some of his non-mormon related forgeries that I'd like to treat in an essay.

And finally your remarks on "supressions" reminds me about the way Dale Morgan's Guggenheim got quashed, and that I meant to check up some of the documentation of that in the Utah State Historical Archives and never got around to it.

So, thanks for the proddings...
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
_Scottie
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Post by _Scottie »

The Nehor wrote:Scratch speaks ill of the writer of Ender's Game. He should be shot.


AGREED IN SPADES, Nehor!!! Grab your torches and pitchforks!!!
If there's one thing I've learned from this board, it's that consensual sex with multiple partners is okay unless God commands it. - Abman

I find this place to be hostile toward all brands of stupidity. That's why I like it. - Some Schmo
_Scottie
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Post by _Scottie »

harmony wrote:Sure they have. It's called "nothing R rated, and even PG 13 is pushing it".


The "Don't watch R rated movies" thing is a myth. The only time that has been said is in a pamphlet by BKP to the young men. And, of COURSE young men shouldn't watch R movies. They aren't 18 yet.

They have replaced it with "Don't watch unwholesome movies", partly because the rating system is an American thing. Nobody else knows what the hell an R rating is.
If there's one thing I've learned from this board, it's that consensual sex with multiple partners is okay unless God commands it. - Abman

I find this place to be hostile toward all brands of stupidity. That's why I like it. - Some Schmo
_Scottie
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Post by _Scottie »

I often wonder about the Mormon art that depicts Captain Moroni, who would put any of the bodybuilders in 300 to shame, mounted on his trusty steed. Or Joseph Smith dutifully pondering while looking at the gold plates, as if the translation process were anything like that.
If there's one thing I've learned from this board, it's that consensual sex with multiple partners is okay unless God commands it. - Abman

I find this place to be hostile toward all brands of stupidity. That's why I like it. - Some Schmo
_moksha
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Post by _moksha »

Scottie wrote: The "Don't watch R rated movies" thing is a myth. The only time that has been said is in a pamphlet by BKP to the young men. And, of COURSE young men shouldn't watch R movies.


It only needs to be uttered once and it takes on the sacredness of a white shirt.




by the way, for any Mormon artist out there, you are welcome to the idea of a sculpture consisting solely of a white shirt and tie as an idea.
Cry Heaven and let loose the Penguins of Peace
_Moniker
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Post by _Moniker »

harmony wrote:
Moniker wrote: A friend of mine, when I was a teen, was LDS but I wasn't allowed in her home. :(


Oh, for keeeycrying out loud! Why not?


Her parents thought I was a bad influence on her. Although, it was actually the other way around.
_Blixa
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Post by _Blixa »

huckelberry wrote:I followed the links provided above for a quick refresher. I do not suppose Blixa would find much very satisfying there.


Heh, ya think?

Instead of any journey of discovery there is something else.


Do you mean that these images seem to come from a place of answers more than questions? That could be a way to describe crudely didactic art. by the way, I don't think "didactic" in and of itself is a "bad thing" in art: on a general level it could be argued that art always has a pedagogical component (and this is an aesthetic argument that I find especially interesting myself). But there are different ways issues and experiences of teaching and learning can be structurally framed by art practices and individual works. Much of the art in those links strikes me as simply "illustration": an image designed to visually represent an idea on a one-to-one basis. (Also, though it may sound like it, I don't necessarily regard "illustration" as some lesser art form but as an institutionally different form (in terms of its location in social/economic institutions of production and consumption). Some of it in other contexts can stand on its own as art, of course.

It is very hard to approach such things without a lot of personal attitudes determing things. I do not respond very much to all the sentimentalism. I am practiced in seeing that is staying inside a small closet in the back of ones mind. perhaps others would feel entirely different.


This is true, but "personal" attitudes are not entirely "personal": they come from some place other than the strictly individual as they are the composite result of what we've taught (about art and many other things) as well as not taught: if one has not had the opportunity to be exposed to art, or been encouraged to think about it, or even lived in an environment that its an everyday part of, then one isn't likely to have very developed "attitudes" about it or maybe even find it very meaningful.

I'm not saying that personal taste isn't important or valuable, but that its only part of how one views (judges?) art. In other words, its not entirely "subjective."

I'm curious what you mean by "I am practiced in seeing that is staying inside a small closet in the back of ones mind."

I looked at some Minerva Teichert pictures. I had not seen them before. They seem in some ways a nice change of place. Colors, or at least a little instead of beige. Shapes rather lively,artist must have some urge to dance. Women figures all drawn with no center. I suspect some viewers may choose to ignore that entirely. It speaks to me as at the heart of the matter.


I actually saw some of the Minerva Teichert exhibit at the BYU art museum with runtu. While I don't find her work all that interesting in itself, it is interesting to me historically.

I looked at a bronze by somebody else of Christ and the woman at the well. It spoke directly of what all I find repugnant in LDS theology. Christ is a big overbaring figure with no actual connection to the woman but the ablitiy to dominate. The woman is a mere child tiny and bowing away. I find this a dreadful image.


Yes, I agree. It seems a particularly thoughtless expression.


When I read the story I imagine nothing remotely like that. Will I be able to continue after being infected with this dreadful image?


I hope so!
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
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