Ok, this is a little sad. Maybe a little pathetic. But Cherith Nordling asked us to make a non-prose piece of art that represented our understanding of our “fully embodied self” for a class on Trinitarian theology. And this is what I came up with…a digitally retouched photo of a New Orleans street musician that caught my eye. I saw this guy across the street in the French Quarter (next to a great Royal St gallery, for those of you that share my love for the Big Easy). From the moment I snapped the photo, I knew something about it was familiar, but it was the impending deadline of a grad school assignment that helped me figure out what it was.
Here’s my “artist’s” description (yes, the scare quotes are me admitting I’m no artist.)
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF MINE
Photograph with digital alterations
2017
Something caught my eye about this New Orleans street musician from the second I saw him, and yet only recently have I come to understand why. The incongruity of angel wings and tattered garments on a hungry performer in a borrowed doorway may have been intended to amuse or confuse, but for me it represents much of my embodied existence. It reflects my comically sad attempts to carve out a ‘stage’ for myself in this world by exploiting my talents to impress and enamor passers by. Having lived much of my life striving to be noticed, my present aim is to become comfortable enough in my own skin to live with true humility. It is said that humility is not thinking less of oneself—or indeed, dressing to convey that to others—but in thinking of oneself less often. Seeing myself reflected here, I am all too ready to leave this sad sub-human parody behind.
