Posts Tagged ‘artvoxlive’
The Crucifixion According to Radiohead
This is a video recalling the Good Friday service I did in April 2011. It was a multi-media meditative art piece depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ while being narrated by the music of Radiohead. Using the Stations of the Cross as my narrative arch, I used a different Radiohead song for each statio as well as a video piece to coincide with it… all the while creating a live painting depicting the crucifix. This video shows the video I made as well as a taping of one of my performances.
Radiohead playlist
1. videotape
2. you and whose army?
3. how to disappear completely
4. hearing damage - (technically a thom yorke song)
5. idioteque
6. morning bell
7. i will (no man’s land)
8. all i need
9. exit music (for a film)
10. paranoid android – (only the middle section)
11. give up the ghost
12. codex
13. bulletproof
Please support the work of Radiohead.
Purchase playlist on itunes – click here
About using Radiohead…. In no way did I attempt to try to “Christianize” Radiohead music. I was not using it in this setting to try to say to people “look! there are christian messages in their music… you just have to listen for it!” And in no way am I trying to use this music to propogate evangelizing the world to my belief systems. Radiohead has created what they have created… and it’s beautiful and awesome. But in considering music that portrays someones execution, I have yet to find music as powerful, intense, haunting, and honest as I have with Radiohead. No one got up before this gathering and told people what to think and told them what the music was saying. I put it together and left if for the viewer/listener to do with it what they will.How this came about….
This started about a year before. Anytime I would hear certain Radiohead songs (the ones in this performance) I would have this vision that in some way these songs were telling a story. As the year progressed the visions became more and more clear. By the beginning of January 2011, I could see that these were to be in a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Being an artist for a number of years now, artmaking comes in a few forms. Sometimes making art is putting together aesthetical pieces to accomplish your envisioned goal. You know what you want to make and you do the hard skillful work of putting that together. But other times, ideas/songs/images come to you and ask you to bring them into reality. So artmaking is really about listening. This is the case with this project. It was a lot of listening. Listening to the Great Muse. This has many names. For me and my own experiences, I believe this voice is from the Almighty and I believe He was asking me to bring this into reality. It was simply follow directions and it was one of the easiest things I’ve ever put together. It’s really hard to explain but everything just fell into place so easily. I knew exactly what songs were suppose to be in there. I knew what order. Gathering the videos took me an afternoon. I could just see it all.
This really hit me when I found myself in Jerusalem for 3 days with some friends on a work/mini-pilgrimage. This idea had been mulling around and I was wrestling through if I should do it or not. Then I realized I was in the actual place where Jesus walked to the cross, died on it, was buried and laid in a tomb. And I had video cameras with me. So some of the footage you see in the video is actually from my trip to Jerusalem.
You obviously lose a lot of the experience of being in the moment where you are hearing the music loudly, watching the video, and see me create the painting in person when you watch this video on-line. But it only happened once at Ecclesia in the city of Houston. So here it is for you too see what it looked like.
Catch Up
It’s February! and I’m way behind on posting some stuff. The truth is I became a dad in December and that’s been taking up my time like nobody’s business. So here’s a quick update with some pics of things I’ve been doing.
NYWC – Nashville
Always a joy to work with my friends at YS.
Tic Long - a gem of a man
working with Shane Claiborne
at WOW2011 Student Conference
Fun to work with Shane again. Love his heart and hanging out always challenges my faith and life. We had a good time chatting and expect some collaboration later on this year.
Other things….
This is one of my latest paintings that I’m proud of.
Optimus Prime Saves African Orphans
acrylic on canvas
We spend millions of dollars creating heroes that never save the world from anything we really need saving from.
It would be nice if some of those “heroes” could actually help with some real world problems… like the massive growth of orphans in sub-saharan Africa.
Upcoming events:
- Tour with Derek Webb coming this spring.
-”The Crucifixion According to Radiohead” – a performance meditation art piece I’ll be doing at Ecclesia Church on Good Friday. If you live in Houston, come on out.
And here’s the new edition…..
Anders Indiana Erickson.
Have a good February!!!!!
Scott
Lives On The Line | World Aids Day
My friends at WorldVision ACT:S asked me to help modify their “Lives On The Line” program this year. Usually the cards that people take have photos of people who are affected by AIDS. The cards are hung on a campus, church, some kind of public thoroughfare and are to be taken by individuals for prayer & contemplation about their response to the worldwide AIDS pandemic.
This year, instead of having photos, they wanted to have something a little different and they asked me if I could paint portraits of 8 different individuals. Here’s a little video about what that looked like….
Lives On The Line | Making of the Cards from scott erickson on Vimeo.
It was an awesome project and I’m thankful to have been invited to participate in the telling of important stories.
Fall Conferences – Artist in Residence
Of late I’ve been painting at a few large conferences as the artist in residence. The idea is that art takes time and comes from experiences. So instead of having just an inspirational short art piece, why not have an artist in the mix making art out of everything that is going on. This is a better model for church leaders at least of how the visual arts can be a part of our corporate gatherings. Not just having inspirational 4 minute painting pieces (most art is not created that way), but giving at least an hour or so for the artist to create something.
Up above is a shot from Catalyst, the largest church leader conference in the U.S.
My friend Caitlin Beidler and I were the artists in residence at Catalyst this year. You can see our little art cubby in the stadium over to the left… the yellowishly lit area. We had a great time and got to make art to some really cool presenters: Scott Harrison, Seth Godin, Daniel Pink, Francis Chan, Christine Caine, Andy Stanley… just to name a few.
Here are a few pics of some of the paintings I made there. Remember, these paintings are 3ftx4ft acrylic on canvas and they were all made in less than an hour… in front of 12,000 people.
The other conference I was recently the artist in residence at was the National Youth Workers Convention in San Diego, put on by Youth Specialties.
Man I love the people at YS. The NYWC is a conference that seeks to celebrate the most under-appreciated workers in the church – the youth workers. This 4 day convention is chalked with training seminars, soul care, thought provoking subjects, and just a lot of laughter and good times. I have such a great time and I’m glad I got invited back for a 3rd year. They told me I was even family this year. (sniff sniff).
Above is me painting with Brenton Brown and band… who are great and there will be more about some future collaborations later. Below are some of the images I made throughout the conference.
There is so much more going on that I reveal in the next coming weeks…. projects with Derek Webb, prints for raising money for clean water pumps, etc…..
I’ll get to all that soon. I just wanted to give some photo updates since my last entry was August.
til next time
make more art!
scott
Art Activism Videos
My friends at WorldVision ACT:S asked me to create a series of videos about using creative activism with their Acts To End Malaria Campaign. It was an awesome project and I had fun making these shorts. Here they are for your enjoyment…..
