Kai Slemenda

25 February 2016
The Work of Art
Benjamin Craig
Spiritual Art Manifesto
In recreating religious concepts traditionally and globally followed, pieces can become
more articulately communicable when enforced by an emotional attachment. For both curators
and gallery visitors, viewers of spiritual artwork are bound to have strong or subtle agreements
and disagreements with these concepts portrayed. In adherence to just and levelheaded
judgement, subjective rules are to be followed regarding this unique genre of artwork.
Furthermore, balancing ones personal and non-personal evaluations is a necessity for
communicating criticism as well as reading a work individually.
As a curator or visitor:
Each piece must be viewed personally attached and unattached.
Separating ones personal attraction to the pieces aestheticism and concept from initial criticism
is a necessary process in artistic evaluation. Regarding the critics level of detachment from their
feelings toward a piece, they should maintain an awareness of feelings to be partly left alone.
Using this type of separation, criticism and can be later influenced by application and nonapplication of personal attachment. At first, the viewer is to criticize works based on
compositional, historical, and conceptual elements. These are the strongest forms of textual
information that, when used as a source, are strong points of approval. Despite ones emotional
opinion of a piece as being somewhat unjust for criticism, its attribution to criticism is not
useless. When differentiated in the form of argument, using emotional opinions can be relatable
to readers. This can also help one articulate and understand a concept to an audience. For casual
viewers, emotional connection or rejection to a piece can make the piece more worthwhile;
deciding why those initial feelings are felt allows one to use the textual points of information to
find out.
Question the religious concepts as just or unjust.
Pertaining specifically to religious and spiritual art, the concepts portrayed serve a prominent
purpose in understanding the perspective of an artist and the religion. In the context of this
gallery, there are two religions involved: Buddhism and Christianity. The chance of a viewer or
critic agreeing or believing in all concepts involved is unlikely. As the gallery has to do with
expanding an understanding of religious similarities and contrasts, ones critical skepticism is
necessary. Once the viewer has established his or her opinion, they can consciously side with the
artists portrayal or disagree. This serves in the favor of the viewer in both situations of
agreement and disagreement. As a goal for viewers, finding a non-believed concept in spiritual
art can allow them to further seek its significance. Christianity and Buddhism are two leading

religions of the world; despite potential disagreement to a religious concept, it is up to the viewer
to determine what makes the idea so highly respected and followed.
As an artist of spiritual art:
Pieces should be created with a well-read background of the subject.
This prevents the artist from improperly portraying and missing information. Additionally, this
practice provides the artist with richer sources to work with. A lacking knowledge potentially
diminishes the range of expression a piece could contain and weakens the chance to let an
opinion grow. Having a stronger sense of opinion toward the work helps the artist carry his or her
point or purpose across. Having ones personal opinion toward a religious concept enforced in
the artwork can serve them with motivation.
Pre-establish a traditionally or personally influenced portrayal of the concept.
Biblical and Buddhist stories come in multiple interpretations and portrayals throughout history.
In certain periods, the portrayals are revealing to a populations current view on those concepts.
Some are more personally revealing to an artists social statement whereas others are strictly true
to a storys structure. In most works presented in the gallery, the artists purpose clearly sides to
traditional portrayal or personally influenced portrayal. Prior to a works creation, these
differentiations should be established by the artist for sake of viewer clarity.
Pieces can be created for spiritual discovery aside from social commentary separate from
traditional pieces.
Spiritual art is distinct from more traditional forms in its potential use for self-discovery. As a
valid form of creative purpose, an artist can create in an improvisational form when not retelling
religious stories. This can serve as process of discovery for artistic concepts. More abstractly, a
piece can finalized without preconceived goals as to where the piece is going (provided the artist
has some spiritual idea in mind). The unclearness can come in his or her misunderstanding of a
certain religious idea or a spiritual path in general. The sharing of this artwork is directly
personal and in its revealing allows viewers to see a possibly related experience.