Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Rooftop Installation




Sunday afternoon after the most recent service of The Secret City, I was up on a rooftop in far Queens. It was a great moment, the late afternoon, summer light, and the designs in the tar paper. You know those moments when you see the world as a work of art? It's similar to seeing waking life as the same as a dream state--you realize everything is perspective.
The Secret City celebrates that idea--that by looking at the world with the eyes of an artist (seeking beauty, meaning, intention, theme, structure, etc) we begin to see the world as a work of art. And, by extension, the world becomes a work of art--capable of being collaborated on by us, and others.
Funny, as we were hanging out on the rooftop, Bobby and Elik and I were talking about what an intense time it is right now, how it can seem that the world is being taken over by interests bigger than us, that there's an immense, uncontrollable movement of ownership and influence, and how that can feel scary. 
That's when we noticed the light, the designs in the tarpaper, the seemingly happenstance structure of the world, the art work of that afternoon. Beauty.
This is what is not easily vanquished or owned in the end--the power of the imagination, the ability to see, the choice to find the art in the everyday. And then to share it, to tell people about it. It's accessible. Available to everyone. A birthright. 
Something in that is related to freedom.

1 comment:

Jessica said...

Yes! Nature always gives me this feeling - design. But seeing it in entropy is a beautiful thing too. I like how the conversation changed.