Art-Making as Spiritual Practice

Lexi Eikelboom is a Senior Research Fellow in Religion and Theology at the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University, Australia.David Newheiser is Associate Professor of Religion at Florida State University.

• FiguresNotes on ContributorsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction – Lexi Eikelboom (Haverford College, USA)Part One: Frames1. Religion, Art, Ritual: The History of Concepts, the Operation of Power – David Newheiser (Australian Catholic University, Australia) 2. The Challenge of Approaching Art-Making Through Practice and Discourse – Lexi Eikelboom (Haverford College, USA)Part Two: Practices Movement3. Movement in the Catholic Eucharist: Vulnerability and Precarity – Natalie Carnes (Baylor University, USA)Reflection – Heather Hesterman4. Movement in Heather Hesterman’s Community Practice: Collective Attention and Practical Knowledge – Alison Fitchett-Climenhaga (Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University, Australia) Time5. The Temporality of a Medieval Brahmanical Procession: Ritual Time and the Time of “Ritual” – Marko Geslani (University of South Carolina, USA)Reflection – Adam Lee6. Time in Adam Lee’s Painting Practice: An Art of Keeping Company – Alda Balthrop-Lewis (Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University, Australia) Medium7. Medium in Transformation: Sermons, Video Recordings, and Arthur Jafa’s akingdoncomethas – Jonathan Anderson (Duke University, USA)Reflection – Chris Bond8. Medium in Chris Bond’s Drawing Practice: Reproductive Negations – Killian Quigley (Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Australia) Subtraction9. Subtraction in Art and Ritual: Effacement, Desire, and Universalizing Gestures – Elayne OliphantReflection – Live Particle10. Subtraction in Live Particle’s Somatic Practice: The Poetics of Heidegger’s Abyss – Maurizio Toscano (Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia) Invention11. Invention in Aleinu: On the Creation and Transformation of Ritual – Molly Farneth (Haverford College, USA)Reflection – Dominic Redfern12. Invention in Dominic Redfern’s Video Practice: The Art of Discovery – Benjamin R. DeSpain (Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University, Australia) Attention13. Attention in Rituals of Menace: Homeric Oath-Making Rituals and the 2014 Sotloff Beheading Video – Margo Kitts (College of Liberal Arts, Hawai‘i Pacific University, USA)Reflection – Harry Nankin14. Attention in Harry Nankin’s Photography Practice: Assisting Nature to Write Itself – Jason Goroncy (Whitley College, Australia) Listening15. Knowing Through Liturgical Practice: Spiritual Poesis – Graham Ward (University of Oxford, UK)Reflection – Mark Newbound16. Deep Listening in Mark Newbound’s Video Practice: Embodied Knowledge Production from Decolonial Perspectives – Enqi Weng (Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University, Australia) Part Three: DisciplinesSocial Science17. Art Performances and Religious Rituals: How Transformative Experiences Can Foster Knowledge – Valerie van Mulukom (Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK), Armin Geertz, Robert Clark, and Miguel FariasReflection – Sarah TomasettiArt History18. Theorizing Ritual and Art After Modernity – Deborah Lewer (University of Glasgow, UK)Part Four: Conclusion19. The Power of Unknowing in Art and Religion – David Newheiser (Australian Catholic University, Australia)BibliographyIndex

Art Making as Spiritual Practice offers a unique approach to the study of religion and the arts. By pairing theorists with practitioners, readers are able to peer into the ritualistic qualities of art making.