“Art for art’s sake,” the oft quoted, bohemian creed of sophisticated, individual freedom of expression for the sole purpose of expression itself, ain’t half wrong.
Let me explain.
Foundational to an understanding of this thing we call humanity, is that we were created in God’s image, Imago Dei in Latin. And we first encounter God in scriptures as eternal, self existing, all powerful and creating.
Therefore being creative (not creating out of nothing, ex nihilo, as God created) is to express that Image that we bear.
And what better case could be made for creating for the sake of creating (or for making abstract art) than the giraffe. What purpose does it serve? Does it have to? Simply striking and unlike other land mammals but still enough like them to be recognized, the giraffe, just fun to look at.
There is much in this world that could be given as examples of beauty for beauty’s sake, created because it may in fact just be fun to create.
But I have experienced taking what is meant for good and abusing it and often destroying it in my own life. So while it is not intrinsically evil or wrong, I suspect that to subscribe to “art for art’s sake” as the only rationale I can make for creating, there is a fair chance I would idolize my creation, my ability, my freedom, etc and make a mess out of something that was meant to be a blessing.
Philip Graham Ryken’s book Art for God’s Sake is insightful and encouraging. He sets forth biblical examples of God mandating artistry of all kinds, calling artisans by name and preparing them. One of the interesting insights was that the first men to mentioned as filled with God’s Spirit are the artisans called to create the tabernacle. Not preachers, not scholars, not healers or apostles, but artisans.
The book looks at the rocky relationship between the church and art, the art as a Christian vocation, the biblical evidence that supports all kinds of art forms and biblical standards of quality for the arts; goodness, beauty, truth, and finally art that glorifies God.
He is also clear that to “God’s glory” doesn’t mean it has to be evangelistic or didactic. It is an expression of love and doesn’t have to have a utilitarian function to glorify God; our own encounter with creation echoes that truth.
Beyond laying out a biblical support of and mandate to do art, the best summary of insight of this great little book for me comes from Ryken himself,
Thus the true purpose of art is the same as the true purpose of anything: it is not for ourselves or for our own self-expression, but for the service of others and the glory of God. Or to put all of this another way, making art is an expression of our love—love for God and love for our neighbor.
