http://www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts/
Assessment Task
Pick one of the topics below
and express your thoughts on
it using artistic means
You must include a written
piece of information to go
with your work
Option 1 - Where is God Today?
In this theme, pupils are invited to think about the question
'Where is God Today?' Psalm 42 asks this question, and
different people answer it in different ways. Many pupils will
have their own answers. Agnostics and atheists may say 'we
don't know' or 'nowhere'. Winning work in this area will mix
strong and artistic images with theology, seeking, sensing or
listening to God creatively. Argumentative work is as powerful
as personal and reflective work. Pupils' own views, and the
answers of religion, both have a place. Over the years this has
been our most popular theme: this year we have twisted it
with the word 'today'. A focus on the 'now' is good.
Where Is God Taking Us?
Jake Goddard
Aged 13
My picture shows my main question for the subject of God.
I'm an agnostic and I don't know whether there is a God or
not, but one thing I do believe in is that some things happen
for reasons, and I have put this into my drawing. "Where is
God taking us?" focuses less on the existence of God and
more on is purposes and what he plans to do with us.
The long road leading over the horizon with the date along
the side represents the time stream that that the creator
makes for us. We can see somewhat into the future and
predict certain occurrences over a few years, but beyond
that we can't see what is happening or what the person in
the welding mask is making.
This person in the welding mask may appear to say that I
believe that God is creating fate, but through the
concealment of the face you can see that I don't know what
it is or what it looks like. Yes, it could be God, or it could just
be represent a natural figure, such as mother nature. If fate
was caused by a natural figure that works only by a balanced
series of chances that eventually collect together to form
one outcome.
The person in the mask is only a representation of fate, and
because I am agnostic I can decide neither.
Walk in the Woods
Eilish Marron
Aged 14
In the assessment we were asked to create a piece of
artwork in response to the question where is God? So I used
my young photographer of the year picture, which I think
helps explain where I think God is.
I believe that God is where you want him to be. God is
where you ask him to be and where you need him to be, you
just need to ask him. I think that God is a part of everyone
that believes in him. But I also think that he is in heaven to
help the dead.
So my art work shows that anyone can be your God. My
father is being my Brother's God or my Brother is being my
Dad's God. It is like being a helping hand almost. Someone
to show you the right path and to keep you on the good
tracks.
I have tried to show my thoughts in the picture by capturing
a special moment that is not an everyday picture; this is
because it is in woodland and of two people that are special
to me.
So where is God in all the suffering? I believe that God is
where he needs to be and that he can't always stop things
happening, but he can change them, or prevent things from
happening after.
For example, devastating recent events in Japan; God
couldn't prevent the earthquake but he could have stopped
the tsunami afterwards.
I believe that everything happens for a reason and that bad
things happen in order for the good ones to happen.
Your Request Has Been Denied
By Penny, Handsworth
Age 15
'Your request…' represents the feeling that God, if he
exists, is unreachable and hidden.
At a time when we need God most, such as the peril
the girl is facing, we reach out. No one grabs our
hand. The masses of paper falling from the sky are a
suggestion that our prayers never reach anyone. Cast
up to the sky they fall back down again.
The phrase 'your request has been denied', written
on every piece of paper, is a suggestion that I can’t
reach God. I feel there is no personal bond, no
personal response to my prayers. All we receive is a
weak cover up of the truth, and automated message:
your request to be happy, to be alone, to do well, to
get better, has been denied. If this is what happens, I
feel it is very unlikely that God exists. This is what my
paint and ink expresses. The different coloured lines
represent movement, the different feelings the girl
experiences during each prayer, each denied request.
Seek And You Will Find Him
By Rebecca, Leicester
Age 15
Where is God? Seek and you will find him. I
depict a girl looking at her shadow. Newspaper
cuttings in the shadow speak about the
everyday: terror, murder, death. Jesus stands
behind her, surrounded by light and colour.
I put cuttings from newspapers in the shadow,
to do with what you see and hear about on the
news every day: terror, murder, death, tension,
crisis.
It's easy to focus on the shadow in life, as it's
presented so frequently. If you think of God,
it's in the situations when good things happen.
But in the shadow, God is there.
In the most war torn area people's lives can be
transformed because of him. The image of
Jesus behind the girl and the colour that
surrounds them both illustrates that even
where things look dark, God is working there.
There is light even in the shadow.
Option 2 - A Fairer World / A just world
This theme is about how religions seek justice. Pupils might
show a faith based charity in action: Islamic Relief, Christian
Aid or one of many others. Or they might give an artistic
reflection on their own hopes for 'making poverty history' or
'seeing justice for all people'. Good work will express clearly a
link between faith and action, between the teaching of sacred
texts and a modern problem, or between prayer for peace
and action for peace. This theme encourages aspiration
towards a just world!
Positive Action Can Change The
World
Matilda & Jessica
Age 13
We aimed to keep this design simple.
Christian Aid stands with the poorest
people of the world to end poverty
and injustice, regardless of faith or
ethnicity.
We tried to convey our message by
showing that behind the bombs and
talk of terrorism it is possible for
people to share and unite. The
explosion hides clasped hands.
Positive action can bring a fairer
world. Money, time, energy, love: be
willing to share.
Injustice Jigsaw
Lucy , Surrey
Age 12
This injustice jigsaw uses pictures from the
internet that give examples of injustice
throughout the world.
Poverty, starvation, no access to healthcare in
developing countries, children used in war or
cheap labour and unequal distribution of
money. If there was justice in the world my
puzzle would be solved and the pieces would
be joined together to show people,
communities and nations working and living
together to help fight injustice.
I have also shown some of the organisations
that fight injustice through religion, prayer,
charities like 'Make Poverty History', and the
human ability to work together.
Option 3 - Hope for the World
Some people see hope for the world in human genius. Others
hope for co-operation, an end to starvation, peace between
religions or the power of love. Most religious people have a
spiritual hope for the future – and non-religious people do
too. In this theme, think hard about the idea of hope – where
does hope come from, what does it say, and can we rely on
it? You might use a line from the scriptures of one religion, or
an idea from a leader or hero. Then turn your thought into an
image, a digital video, cartoon, model or sculpture. Show us
your own genius as you express your own idea about hope for
the world.
Option 4 - Beginning / Ending
Religions like to tell humans about the beginning and the end
of the world. What happens in between matters too. This
theme invites young artists to look at what religions say about
any beginning or ending and reflect for themselves about how
to express their ideas. Did the world start with Big Love or a Big
Bang? Will it end with a whimper, or at the gates of Paradise?
In this theme, young artist are invited to think about the
beginning and end of life (babies and funerals?), about the
beginning and end of the world, or about the beginning and
ending of a particular experience or phase of life. Make sure
your work has some exciting connections to religious or
spiritual ideas.
Help for the Written Side
My picture is based on the theme of...
The title I've chosen is...
This picture is all about...
This is a spiritual picture because...
I've tried to show my thoughts / ideas / feelings by...
To make the image, I used...
I'm proud of my work because...
The main point of the image is...
I've thought a lot about [theme], and would like to say...