8. APLICACIÓN DE HERRAMIENTAS
8.7. VEREDA ALTO DE LA PALMA
Journey to Faith is a creative exploration of my journey to the Christian faith. This research explored the potential of CGI/VFX as an effective medium to communicate deeply personal experiences. After undertaking this research, I have found that to effectively communicate these experiences, one must find a common visual language which serves as a mental bridge from the artist to viewer. In this
exegesis, I discussed how visual metaphor may be the answer to this issue, and how I have explored this concept through CGI/VFX.
Through this exploration, I have discovered one of the biggest strengths of this medium lies in its ability to mix different visual styles to create new ways of seeing. However, I have also found this strength can also be its biggest downfall as having this level of flexibility can also run the risk of creating something too obscure for audiences to clearly interpret. With this in mind, one takeaway I have found helpful when solving this issue is the value of exploration through practice. This medium allows the artist to explore different avenues of visualization efficiently and by taking advantage of this freedom through constant experimentation, the artist will not only get a better understanding of his own thoughts through trial and error, but also how to better communicate these thoughts to the audience.
Another advantage this medium has in communicating abstract thought is its ability to create something fully reflexive of the artist. While the level of reflexivity can be somewhat dependent upon the tools the artist uses, I have found inserting myself both conceptually and technically into every stage in the development of the work enables the work to fully reflect my thoughts and feelings. This result was only possible through the flexibility CGI/VFX provides.
Reflecting upon the findings of this research, I would have liked to have spent more time exploring different avenues of visualization further within this medium. As previously stated, one strength this medium has over other forms of creative visualization is its ability to mix visual styles together. In light of this, one potential research plan I could enact in the future is to explore how other mediums such as painting and 2D animation could blend together with CGI/VFX to create a new visual style, and shed light on new methods of communicating deeply personal experience creatively.
6 | P a g e The journey of spiritual transformation is a life-changing experience, and I have attempted to facilitate this experience within a visual medium which connects with audiences on a personal or even spiritual level. Ultimately, the artefact created is strictly interpretational and not a cemented representation of the Christian faith. The artefact lets audiences view Christianity from one deeply personal point of view and my hope is that audiences will come away from the experience with newfound perspectives around Christianity. The artefact does not aim to convert an individual to the Christian faith: its objective is to effectively express the experience of faith in a visual medium, giving form to complex thoughts in the hopes that it paints a clearer picture of what faith may look and feel like to a Christian.
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Benn, P. (2014). Commitment. Routledge.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=1886880 Berger, J. (2008). Ways of Seeing. Penguin UK.
Bridges, J. (2016). Trusting God. NavPress.
Candy, L., & Edmonds, E. (2018). Practice-Based Research in the Creative Arts: Foundations and Futures from the Front Line. Leonardo, 51(1), 63–69.
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Cole, T. (1842). The Voyage of Life: Manhood [Oil on Canvas].
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Experience of Meaning in Life: Classical Perspectives, Emerging Themes, andControversies (pp. 3–15). Springer Netherlands.
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http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=4903999 Husserl, E. (1975). Experience and Judgment. Northwestern University Press.
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Keller, T. (2009). The Reason for God: Belief in an age of scepticism. Hachette UK.
Kovecses, Z., & Benczes, R. (2010). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford University Press USA - OSO. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=535440 Lewis. (1944). Christian Behaviour (4th ed.). The Macmillan Company.
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Marìa Clara Lucchetti Bingemer. (2019). Love and Forgiveness: A Christian Theological Point of
View. 19(2), 232–249.McClean, S. T. (2008). Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. MIT Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=3339423 McNiff, J. (2013). Action Research: Principles and Practice. Taylor & Francis Group.
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Oord, T. J. (2010). Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement.
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Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=861454 Rosenthal, L. (2008). Romanticism. Parkstone International.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=887055 Scorsese, M. (2017, January 1). Silence [Drama, History]. Paramount Pictures.
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Shanes, E. (2015). The Life and Masterworks of Salvador Dalí. Parkstone International.
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Sobchack, V. (2020). The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience. Princeton University Press.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
Research Journal: Doubt
In this journal entry, I mainly focused on exploring the concept of doubt and how doubt contributes to an individual's journey to faith. During the creation of this journal entry, I looked at several secular and theological contexts, as well as the movie Silence to explore this topic. The material following this section is taken from the journal entry itself.
Critical Analysis:
“Even If God had been silent my whole life, to this very day, everything I do, everything I’ve done, speaks of Him. It was in the silence that I heard your voice"
(Scorsese, 2017)
This line from the film ‘Silence’ directed by Martin Scorsese drove me to analyse doubt and how it affects our interpretation of values and ethics. To put this quote into context, ‘Silence’ is a film that deconstructs the dogmas of Christianity to create a thought piece that asks the question: how far would you go to protect your faith, even if it means causing suffering to others? Cryptic and divisive among its audience, the film highlights the brokenness of humans, putting an emphasis on our stubbornness and pride in the face of danger. Through closer analysis, I realized the film also carries an interest in what faith is. The movie implies that to have faith is to doubt your faith.
Taking away the theological aspect of the concept, this idea of doubt in one’s own belief can be found in Pier Benn’s 2014 publication ‘Commitment’. Benn argues that to commit to a certain belief, one must have doubt in order to keep one from heading into a distorted way of thinking (Benn, 2014). Viewing doubt in this way, I can start to see how Scorsese turned a movie that highlights faith into a character study on what it really means to have faith, as it is through releasing the extent of our own weakness that makes having faith in something, much more of an informed decision rather than a blind one.
11 | P a g e Figure 17. Haryadi, T. Ideation sketches on the concept of doubt. [Screenshot]. (2020)
Visual Reflection:
When trying to illustrate the concept of doubt in relation to faith, one of the key things I wanted to express is the willingness to doubt. The sketches express these ideas by illustrating subjects that 'uncover' themselves to see what they truly feel, because only then can they truly discover their faith.
One of the more significant sketches is the sketch located at the very top left. This sketch involves an individual in a praying position while slowly disintegrating; the sketch emphasizes the idea that faith is built upon the constant battle with doubt, as doubt allows you to strengthen your faith. The importance of dependency and faith is also highlighted in the sketch: even if we crumble within our doubt, our genuine trust for our faith is what ultimately counts. This is illustrated by the praying posture the subject takes even if he is still crumbling from within.
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Narrative Reflection:
I would always see doubt as something that represents weakness within a character, as it showcases the extent of a person’s passion or drive within something. Because of this belief, I've always sought to be confident not only within myself but through the things I placed value in. But when it came to my journey with faith and my relationship with God, doubt became something hard to digest, due to how vulnerable I must be to realize how much doubt was present in my life. These doubts really impacted me mentally, as I started to question whether I believed in anything at all, but as I progressed later in my journey with faith I soon found it is the extent of these doubts that will ultimately become the source of my strength for my faith.
One of the significant events in this battle with doubt was when I fundraised for my Christian camp last year. Taking place in June, a major event in my university Christian movement, Student Life, was a camp where several university Christian movements come together for five days to learn more about Jesus.
The entry fee was three hundred dollars, so a fundraiser was enacted to give those of us interested in learning about Jesus but financially struggling to attend the camp. At first glance, I was very sceptical as to whether I would be able to help raise enough money to help even one person get to the camp; to add to these worries, I was also struggling at the time to keep up with my own faith and was doubting whether God was really present in my life. These worries really irritated me and although I was reluctant at first, I eventually set aside my doubts and proceeded to do the fundraiser.
Through this fundraiser I learnt how to deal with doubt, and it was answered in a way that made me realize just how God shows up when you least expect Him. During those moments of fundraising I found overwhelming generosity within all sorts of people: individuals selfless enough to support me financially, even though they didn't necessarily agree with Christian practices, but still contributed under the sole reason of giving people an opportunity to experience new things. It was also during these moments that I was blessed enough to hear other people's testimonies, stories of their trials with faith and how they were able to overcome them. For the first time in my journey I was able to really feel God working through me and through His presence I was able to raise nine hundred dollars, to help send three people including myself to the camp later that year.