Chris McDonnell, UK
chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk

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May 31, 2017

Signs of the Times?

 A highly-acclaimed Exhibition of the work of Alberto Giacometti opened recently at Tate Modern on the South Bank in London . Giacometti, a Swiss, born in 1901 became one of the outstanding European artists of the 20^th Century. His later sculpture, the slender drawn-out images of the human form, instantly recognisable as his signature work.

 In so many ways they reflect the Europe of his time, the anguish brought about by fascist regimes, the full impact of which only slowly became apparent with the end of the War in 45. It was in the 40s that these stick-like figures emerged, gaunt and shadowy, threatening shapes of a starved humanity. They showed the consequences of total war when unbridled savagery was visited upon nations. The hopeless expressiveness of humanity reduced in its very physicality to a shadow of its former self is almost too much to bear.

 His artistic expression, reflected the times he lived through, the sights he saw and the stories he heard.

We all face similar consequences of being born when we were and living now in the resultant history of our time. One thing I always remember from a post-War London childhood was a greyness, a drabness that was later to be replaced by the colour and energy of the 60s.

 It is no small wonder that the Church of our time has in a similar way been influenced and change by the milieu of these years. That very word, milieu, came into common currency after the publication of Teilhard de Chardin’s book, Le Milieu Divin. It attempts to define our physical and spiritual experience in the Universe and to bring us into the presence of the Cosmic Christ. First written in the mid-20s, its publication was banned by Church authorities, it was too radical, questioned too much and offered concepts and understandings that were hard to acknowledge. It was to remain unpublished till the year after his death, on Easter Sunday 1956.  Even when its title is offered in English it is partly translated to ‘The Divine Milieu’. The French word ‘milieu’ is of course much older but it has become accepted within our English culture without translation.

 We are what we are, alive in the society of the 21^st Century, shaped and influenced by the tumultuous times we have experienced. Dylan might have sung of “Times they are a changin’ ” but for some that change has not been accepted as a reality, they still live in a shadow of earlier years, where so much was in contrast and direct contradiction to our time now. Their refusal to face reality threatens all of us.  

There is certainly a greater global awareness, the slowly emerging realisation that human life on earth is actually transforming our planetary home to the detriment of life. It is quite amazing that the US , under its new President, is considering withdrawal from Paris agreement on climate change.

 It is hard letting go when the comfort blanket of childhood is no longer appropriate, when facts cannot be ignored, however unfortunate the consequences of acceptance.

This is where Francis has taken us with his constant call to love, for the essence of our love with God comes before everything, the moral code and prescriptive actions can only succeed if the platform of love is secure. The emphasis on Commandments, the do’s and don’t’s, cannot precede love.

 In the early months of life, a baby relates to its parents through the love it experiences, the touch, the cuddle and gentleness of bath time and the comfort and nourishment of milk at its mother’s breast. Only later, after the mutual bonding has taken place, can rules begin to be formed and patterns of behaviour understood. I have yet to find a six month old baby respond to the verbal instruction not to soil a nappy. In fact, that reminds me of the definition of a baby – ‘irresponsible at one end and irrepressible at the other’.

 The words of Jesus remind us of this prior need, that we should ‘love one another as I have loved you’.

 Giacometti’s tall, thin elongations of the human form constantly point to the fragility of our lives and the need for the nourishment of love.

 Having spent many years admiring his work through books and images, I am determined to find a way of experiencing the visual reality of a man whose genius is reflected in the acclaim he receives. One of his figures was on display in the dockside Liverpool Tate when I visited with school children. We sat on the floor together in silence. No words were needed. The London Tate exhibition closes in early September. Get along if you can.

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