I like Will Meyer’s observation: “There is one principle that ISM clergy have never heeded well: simplicity of vesture. In the words of Mademoiselle Chanel: “Before you go out, always take something off”. In the ISM, perhaps the more appropriate statement is “The Infant of Prague is to be venerated, not imitated.” Lets all be honest – he is right. One need only make a cursory sweep through Indie websites and blogs to see an entire line up of “Infant of Pragues”. It may at first appear to be a superficial topic, however, there is a worthwhile conversation here. This is not purely about aesthetics – as Will’s post rightly points out it is about context, respecting the dignity of the moment. I also wonder if it is not an opportunity to expand on our understanding of what community is, and what it does.

Clothing is symbolic. If you think I’m joking take a moment and look at a collection of celebrity photographs. Pay close attention to the fashion labels and accessories in the image. Now, go do some people watching – where do you see those labels and accessories? How many market stalls are selling cheap chinese knock-offs? Take a moment and think about the conscious and unconscious “statements” people make, including yourself, about themselves, through the clothes that they choose to wear. Our clothing communicates social status, or aspired to social status, group affiliation, politics, and much more. Often this communication is so unconscious – because of the other choices we have made – that we assume, or take for granted the messages we project, and those that we “read” in others.

The symbolism of clothing in a liturgical setting is intensified because liturgy, by its very nature, is highly symbolic. The shape of the rite, the ritual gestures, even the ritual food, is a stripped down indicator of a larger conversation that we are all having with one another, and with God. When the priest is vested, he or she fulfils a particular role; one that is a step outside the ordinary. That slight shift in appearance can empower individual community members to step outside the ordinary with the celebrant and take in the fullness of the mystery.

Too often in our Indie context vestments become a distraction, rather than a compliment to the ministry and unity of the community. Here is where Will’s observation of the Infant of Prague comes into its own. I have over the years met too many clergy whose prized collection of vestments would put Imelda Marcos’ famed shoe collection to shame. I have seen priests scour the internet, and vintage shops for church chatchky bankrupting themselves (or their community) in the process. There is a sickness, a form of idolatry at work here. Acquiring, and then using more and more liturgical costume – sometimes even changing costumes throughout a liturgy – does not respect the dignity of the mystery. The focus shifts from the Gospel, to the individual celebrant, from we together as one, to “me” the pretty one flouncing about in satin and lace. The purpose of vestments – to shift one’s focus and step outside the mundane, is turned on its head, entrenching the community in the ordinary.

I’m a big fan of make your own. I’m lucky in that I have enough “skill” to get away with it. But if one does not, surely this is an opportunity to tap into existing creative skills within the community, and to cultivate new ones. Doing so is not about aesthetics, or vanity – it can open a door to real ministry, by taking what is learned in the process of that creative act, and shifting its purpose to serve a function outside the boundary of the community. The simple act of coming together to create, for example, a set of vestments, establishes a working bond, a creative skill set, and a sense of pride in being a liturgical community that does more than just celebrate liturgy. The idea of starting within, and then moving beyond with what one has learned, is not without precedent in Christian practice. Indeed it is exactly what the early ascetics and desert Fathers did. They retreated to locations beyond the city walls, achieved a skill in spiritual discipline, and then returned to share that skill with those inside the city – outside the desert. Drawing upon the skills to make beautiful vestments a community could then turn around and make functional items for the poor, the lonely, and the sick – but make them well, and bring some beauty and joy into the other’s world. I have seen more than one “exhibit” created by small groups designed to offer a moment of beauty and reflection for visitors. This is a gift of spirit that cannot be bought on eBay, or “worn” in multiple layers of lace and satin. This is a real community in creative action – doing ministry outside the expected boundaries of “mere” liturgy.

I’m working on an icon. On its own this is not “newsworthy” however, I’ve not worked on anything but sketches in some time due to the all-encompassing Thesis From Hell. It’s nice to remember that my creative life once went beyond research and editing.

Anyway, what is different about this icon verses others I’ve done in the past is that I’m doing it entirely in digital media, which raises a number of questions about the relationship between a very traditional creative expression of spirituality – like iconography, and modern technology.

I was taught that the process of producing an icon is inexorably interwoven with the spiritual state of, and reflection of the producer. I’m wondering then, how the awareness of, and participation in the spirituality of icon painting is effected by the use of non-traditional media.

Moreover, the traditional media (which, I’m not abandoning by the way) has, over the centuries been infused with symbolism, and thus contributes to the whole experience of painting the icon. New media is devoid of these associations and therefore it is reasonable to assume that the “experience” will be somehow altered.

One thing that I have observed already (and this could simply be my own individual point of reference) is that the sensuality, the tactile nature of the traditional method of preparing a board, laying down the under-drawing, followed by the layers of paint, is gone when working in something like Photoshop. This absence of sensual connection to the work is something that, to me at least, feels aloof, cold, and mechanical.

So while the end result might “look” like an icon – because key features typically associated with the production of an icon are missing or altered – is it really an icon?

Casting a wider net – I wonder with the availability of new media, and new techniques, how our production of, and response to Christian art is changing. Can we point to particular schools, or styles and say this is representative of the contemporary “canon” of 21st century Christian art – in the same way that we can point to iconography and say this is Eastern Christian, and it is of a particular period and region?

You may have already noticed that we’ve made some changes to our Kiosk page. As part of our ongoing campaign to highlight creative indie folk we’ve added a few things – including two, yes 2 – lines of T-Shirt designers.

First our own. Occasionally we make a graphic for something and really like it (and hope you do to). We thought that it might be fun, that if people enjoyed that particular graphic – they ought to be able to enjoy it in a different context. Thus, we offer you our T-Shirt Factory (which also does bags and buttons). Thus far we’ve experimented with a few items – but we’ve got a few more planned. For American visitors we’re working to keep the prices down because we know that the Pound/Dollar exchnage rate is . . . well . . . a little high – sorry about that. We are looking into some other options for you.

One of those options however, is our friend Huw (another indie creative type) he’s got a neat kiosk of Eastern Rite designs called Doxos Swag (pretty cool name huh?) and we have included a link to his project on our kiosk page.

For the record – the goal of the exercise is not to make money but to highlight, and to encourage the wide spectrum of scholarship and creativity within the indie community. We’ve got the talent – we (all of us) ought to flaunt it (grin)!

Last week, I think it was, I posted about encouraging other OC/IC ISM scholars and talented others to publish more – to make our voices available and heard not only within our community, but also within a wider audience.

I’d like to take this moment to draw your attention to the work of a close friend of mine – Rev. Siobhan Houston – she’s published one book on Magdalene spirituality, and has another on the history of western esotericism on the way (to be published by Apocraphyle Press). Jordan Stratford has written two (I think that’s right) books focussing on Gnostic ideas and spirituality. Until not long ago – he also kept a great blog of the same bent.

More information on their work, is at their sites, and I believe that both of their works are available on Amazon; and in select (or shall I say selective) book stores.

I’ve said this to my friend John Plummer – one thing that I find very curious is that it is the Gnostics within the wider community who appear to be the most engaged – the most creative. While I find this stimulating (and sometimes very challenging given that I normally disagree with 90% of their theological starting points), I have a huge amount of respect for their voice, and what they contribute.

Last week I posted on Menachem Wecker’s essay in which he explores how art can be a media for reconsidering faith in a creative, and consumerist society. This week, Mark Lawson writing for the Guardian’s CIF Belief section delves into the interplay of art and faith.

There have been a number of instances in the recent past when art depicting Christian themes has been deemed offensive by some believers, but their attempts to have it censured have been brushed aside. In contrast, similar artistic productions centering on Islam have been removed, or shut down. Lawson explores this dichotomy.

I’ve been mulling over Wecker’s proposition that art can be a means of communicating ideas about faith if employed effectively – and Lawson’s essay is a timely new tack on the idea. Even in Britain, where churches are emptying as fast as Northern Rock, christian imagery remains a powerful medium around which atheists, agnostics, and lapsed Catholics build stories, and express important, moving ideas.

Over the past two years I’ve posted more than once about the interaction between new media, outreach, and sparking creative projects within the community. Here, at Iconia Menachem Wecker has written a post well worth reading. In it he observes that many religious communities using new media are failing to take the opportunity to present a different take on the message; instead they simply package the old message for a new delivery system.

More interesting still, is how in our age of growing radicalism, and vocal atheism, he raises the idea of art and creativity as a means – on its own – of inspiring a reconsideration of faith and religion. If, for example, we don’t view the paintings of the great masters as art about religous imagery, but instead as a participating element in religious life – how does that change our perspective? How too can a discussion on the product, and praxis of contemporary and historical religious artists bring about a transformation in the way we build community?

Over the past couple of years – ever since I discovered the glories of SKYPE I’ve been interested in how OC/IC communities, and projects (like our own Indie Voices Archive) can use various new media to reach out beyond the small groups we work within. I’ve done a bit of blogging on it in the past – which you can view here.

I’ve been concentrating on video – using my camcorder, webcam, and camera, to create and edit videos then upload them to ourmedia, the Internet Archive, and Blip.TV (I prefer Blip.TV to YouTube – its . . . classier). The upside of this method is that we can place various projects (interviews, documentaries, reflections, theology, teaching, etc.) before a wider audience. But they also have their limitations (beyond the technical and mechanical) for example they are not live feeds, responses can be days, even months after the original project is finished, which means that the experience, the inspriation for that particular video is no longer fresh in your mind – possibly inhibiting your ability to engage as thoughtfully as you might have liked, since your community have “moved on” to more developed projects.

It is possible via SKYPE for example to do live, real time conversations in large groups, as well as live video (face to face) converstaions with another person. Two years ago, we experimented with a weekly Evening Prayer via SKYPE which allowed a rotation of “leader” and community time afterward. Now I’ve seen a “new” (to me) project called UStream.TV which enables a live feed and . . . it would appear (I’ve not finshed exploring this yet) a capability for real-time reactions (via a chat feed) from the audience.

Recently I’ve discovered a nifty “thing” I’ve know idea how to classify it yet other than to describe it as “video email plus” called seesmic – with nothing more than a webcam it allows you to record messages, and participate in conversations. There is also a plugin (for wordpress users) to enable you to generate both quick video posts, and video comments. I’ve been experimenting with this for the past two weeks, and its been fun. Also I’m currently using it in an “audiance participation” experiment on my other site – you can see that post by clicking here. I’m about to activate that plugin here too.

Used in combination with image and textual resources – PDF’s, dynamic web pages, and even self published material such as from LULU – there is nothing hindering our various communities and projects expanding their ability to become a spiritual resource for others, and to come out from underneath the shadow of other, larger, “better resourced” traditions.

I’ve got an idea list as long as my arm for various projects – right now I’m focussing on mastering the technical and mechanical (see my “other” site for examples). And there is the small matter of finishing the Thesis from Hell (sigh). But I’m interested to know about what projects your community is developing using new media forms, what have you already done, and what was the response? What would (will) you do differently in the future?

Moreover, I would really like to make some space here to highlight those projects, and would appreciate your sharing the links to them.