Faculty & Staff News - Carnegie Mellon University: Pope Francis was recently in a “New York State of Mind,” prompting legendary singer and songwriter Billy Joel to respond with one of his familiar refrains: “I’m movin’ out.”
The piano man suspended his regular gig in Madison Square Garden for a day in late September to make room for a rare and wildly anticipated papal visit.
9 comments:
For a variety of reasons I cannot imagine being given the task of having to sculpt Jesus Christ on the crucifix. The first reason is that I was not raised in a Christian household. It makes me wonder what, if any, religion the artist identified with. If I was in his position I would definitely have some conflicting thoughts on my qualification for the job. I have never been put in any sort of position of having to create a religious figure. Reading this article has created a moral debate within myself on if I would feel comfortable taking on the job of creating a religious piece of art for a religion I am not part of. It does not feel like it would be my place to create art for, and of, a religion that I do not identify with. It reminds me of the implications that actors have when it comes to playing a race they are not.
I can truly say I would be both uncomfortable and unexcited to sculpt jesus. I know this is mostly because I am not a Catholic or a Christian, but I can’t get over hoe disturbing they all look. I have always been uncomfortable with all the jesus’s on a crucifix, but I’m uncomfortable with visuals of anyone being crucified/tortured. I suppose this means he did a great job with the sculpt, because it looked a lot like the creepy ones all over Italy. With that being said, this Pope is pretty awesome and I love how for a pope he is more connected to modern ideals. He did not have a hard act to follow, as the last pope was a (ex) Nazi, but he is really setting a new standard for Popes. I hope he loved the custom make jesus he got for his NYC event. I saw him in Roma a few times and he looks adorable driving around in his little pope car.
Being raised in a Catholic household without being forced to go to church by my parents, I sympathize with the artist in the way that I wouldn't think so hard about religion or the life and death of Jesus unless I had to. I feel like the artist was emotionally impacted because in order to connect with his work and his art, he had to really give thought to biblical history as he wanted to express the meaning of Jesus's life and death in the sculpture. The fat that the artist came from CMU is great!!! Also that he was able to create a piece of art for the POPE is equally great. I like this pope, he tweets.
This is a huge project, but considering the scope of Tait's work, it's not surprising that they would be tasked with a project of this size. Not only is this work going to be seen by the Pope, who, despite your religious preferences, is a huge leader in the world we live in, but it's also seen by millions of people on TV. Considering the subject of the work, too, but have been a hard tat. Jesus on the cross is one of the most iconic figures in western civilization, and people are very quick to judge on the quality of an item like that. Considering that David Lasky only had 7 days to complete the project is another task in and of itself. So many kudos to him, but if you think about it, that's the perfect amount of time to make something like this. Yes, he could have used more time, but I find that the more time you have on a project, the more time you dwell on it instead of making actual headway on the project. This way, he was able to complete it quickly, yes, but also had to trust his instincts and skills.
This article speaks to the versatility of an art degree in terms of future employment. I know for one that I could never imagine myself carving Jesus on the crucifix for the pope’s visit to New York, but hey, people in Purnell totally could.
We all have an idea about what theatre is, about what live performance is, and about what the entertainment industry is. But every week, I am astonished to learn what someone from CMU is doing that made a news story that gets put on the green page. Every time I see what people are doing with art degrees, or with drama degrees, or with design degrees, it blows my mind how many things possibly lie in my future should I choose to deviate from the traditional concept of theatre. If anything, knowing that I could be working for the Pope (of all people) makes me think differently about how to approach art and design as topics.
As the child of a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, two parents who often refrained from larger churches and synagogues, I am always awed by the distant theatricality of religion. It is amazing to me the production value that goes into worship, and the doubled amount of thought which must be contributed to the consideration of faith as well as the event itself. It is eerily similar to the creation of a production based off of a play or musical for the viewing of an audience in a theatre. The only difference? A church works with the bible, a synagogue with the Torah, and a mosque with the Quran - all rather than a script. David Lasky wept at the finishing of his sculpture just like any cast member would at closing night circle. The emotion behind our various art forms and differing religions is always doubled in intensity when combined. How appropriate it is then that Tait was hired for the job, and that Lasky was so affected.
I understand it was a huge honor for the artist to be able to create a piece of art that symbolizes an heavily religious and emotional event in history that was going to have a very special purpose. At the same time, I wished I could have learned about the response of the pope. I understand as an artist, many very successfully pieces are always going to be heavily emotional driven and draining to the artist. This is because it falls into the theory that if the piece embodies that emotional the audience will connect to that emotional response as well.
And really examining the article, the core purpose is to talk about the beauty of collaboration because at the end of the day the head sculptor contributes the success of the Crucifix to the amount of effort that went into creating a unified vision for a special religious event.
I would be interested to see what the pope had to say about the making of the crucifix. As a pretty non religious person, I have a hard time understanding the spiritual connection that the artist had with the sculpture. However I do think that it is imperative for an artist to have an emotional connection to what they are working on, and that that love of a project really brings out the best in the artist and then brings out the best in his or her work. I hope the pope appreciates he hard work, and that the artist never forgets the feeling he had when he finished it.
Though I am not a believer of the Christian faith, and cannot directly relate to the relationship the carver had with the crucifix, I can however, relate to an artist's attachment and emotional relationship with his work. More often than not, this situation being no exception, we become have little time to produce ideas that in essence should take months, if not years. Here the stakes were raised even higher. He was carving Jesus for the Pope. This is a huge deal. At the end of the article, it is mentioned that the emotions of the carver got to him. He felt the pressure. I feel bad because he was forced into another task immediately after finishing this enormous one. I do not look forward to the day that I become so busy that I no longer have the time to appreciate what I create. His channelling of emotion obviously serves him well, as you can see in the end quality of his work.
Also, how cool is it that we have a CMU alum who carved something for someone so worldly. What an honor!
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