Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Aesthetics

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder",  it is complicated but yes true.
I can remember an up and coming photographer in our youth group who came from the Western District and took heaps of photos of the farm which he was brought up on. There was one of a dead lamb, who knows how it had died, but I was stuck at composition, the light; strangely in the horror of death there was something aesthetically pleasing to me.
On contemplating Steve Jobs death; I think one of the things which made him stand out was aesthetics. He would almost prioritise beauty over function. Grace seems to be easier to apply to something that looks good but doesn't quite do what you desire.

I am a default greenie. But when I think of the reasons I'm a greenie,  tit is aesthetics. The idea of self sufficiency producing only what you need.
Nature is beautiful. I think one of the main apologitics for God, especially in my experience as a Christian is the beauty of nature. Often quoted is Romans 1:20::

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 

This quote resonates with me deeply.
Working with nature, observing the seasons with garden. It is almost as if you begin to tune into the rhythms of God. There is also technology. Technology which helps come closer to self- sufficiency.  The type of car you drive to the curtains that you have in the windows in your house.

The other aspects which is pleasing, with my reduced consumption of finite resources, are that other may benefit. Be it in developing worlds or more easily quantified future generations.

Yes strangely to me this is aesthetically pleasing...

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