Lost in a Moment

By: Joshuah Ellis

Have you ever noticed that we, as a society, are a bit obsessed with the here and now? If you really think about it, I think you will be able to see that we get a great deal of satisfaction from "moments." Many of us who are music lovers will reach for the volume control when our favorite part of the song is coming up so that we can turn it up. Maybe we try and silence a room full of conversation when a favorite line in a movie is approaching. Consider even the enjoyment we get from seeing an unsuspecting friend walk into his surprise birthday party. I do not think this is anything to be critical of. It is simply an observation that we like our moments.

Even in our relationships, the here and now seems to monopolize a great deal of our attention and focus. Consider the phone conversation with your close friend. Typically people ask, "How are you doing?" If it is a student, we are interested in how school is going. We also usually ask about a person's health, particularly if it has not been good in the recent past. In addition, the family is always a big topic of interest. Again, this is not a criticism, but we do have to realize that we are very concerned with what is going on right now. In fact, that is one of the most commonly used phrases at the beginning of a phone call or letter. "What are you doing?" While I can understand the desire to know more about the people we care about and take an interest in their lives, I have to ask, "Do we care too much about what is going on right here and now and not enough about the things that are more long term?"

Consider with me the longevity of a day. When you are in school and have just finished lunch, it seems as if it will never end. However, when you think about a single day that passed a year ago, it is nearly impossible to remember from beginning to end. Why then, do we tend to be more interested in these things which are so fleeting? James, in talking about a man's entire lifetime, compared in to a vapor that appears for a time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). I certainly do not think we are wrong by concerning ourselves with things of a temporary nature, but we shouldn't care more about them than we do the things of an eternal nature.

Paul said, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). Does that mean that we never think about anything temporal? I don't believe so. It does tell us, however, what we should care about most and that is certainly not the fleeting moments of this life. Even the Hebrew writer told his audience to be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) as we run the race of faith. Again, there is a certain necessity to keep an eye on the things of an earthly nature, but we should not be bound mentally to this earth which will also pass away (Mark 13:31; 2 Peter 3:10).

What reason do we have to let these fleeting moments and earthly cares take priority over the things of a spiritual and eternal nature? There isn't one! Therefore, while you are inquiring about the lives of the people you care for; ask them also about their faith. Ask them if they are discouraged or if they have a healthy prayer life. It has happened more than once in my limited experience that a brother comes forward in need of prayers and encouragement and many did not even know he was struggling. Though they may not admit it if they are having a hard time, make it your priority to ask your brethren how they are spiritually. After all, there is more to bearing one another's burdens than responding to a request for help (Galatians 6:2).

For senior, abortion a medium for art, political discourse

I should warn you. This post is not suitable for children as their are some graphic topics discussed. To those of you reading PCPulpit, how do you feel about this? [jle]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Martine Powers

Art major Aliza Shvarts ’08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts’ project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock — saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

But Shvarts insists her concept was not designed for “shock value.”

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

The “fabricators,” or donors, of the sperm were not paid for their services, but Shvarts required them to periodically take tests for sexually transmitted diseases. She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

Shvarts declined to specify the number of sperm donors she used, as well as the number of times she inseminated herself.

Art major Juan Castillo ’08 said that although he was intrigued by the creativity and beauty of her senior project, not everyone was as thrilled as he was by the concept and the means by which she attained the result.

“I really loved the idea of this project, but a lot other people didn’t,” Castillo said. “I think that most people were very resistant to thinking about what the project was really about. [The senior-art-project forum] stopped being a conversation on the work itself.”

Although Shvarts said she does not remember the class being quite as hostile as Castillo described, she said she believes it is the nature of her piece to “provoke inquiry.”

“I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity,” Shvarts said. “I think that I’m creating a project that lives up to the standard of what art is supposed to be.”

The display of Schvarts’ project will feature a large cube suspended from the ceiling of a room in the gallery of Green Hall. Schvarts will wrap hundreds of feet of plastic sheeting around this cube; lined between layers of the sheeting will be the blood from Schvarts’ self-induced miscarriages mixed with Vaseline in order to prevent the blood from drying and to extend the blood throughout the plastic sheeting.

Schvarts will then project recorded videos onto the four sides of the cube. These videos, captured on a VHS camcorder, will show her experiencing miscarriages in her bathrooom tub, she said. Similar videos will be projected onto the walls of the room.

School of Art lecturer Pia Lindman, Schvarts’ senior-project advisor, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Few people outside of Yale’s undergraduate art department have heard about Shvarts’ exhibition. Members of two campus abortion-activist groups — Choose Life at Yale, a pro-life group, and the Reproductive Rights Action League of Yale, a pro-choice group ­— said they were not previously aware of Schvarts’ project.

Alice Buttrick ’10, an officer of RALY, said the group was in no way involved with the art exhibition and had no official opinion on the matter.

Sara Rahman ’09 said, in her opinion, Shvarts is abusing her constitutional right to do what she chooses with her body.

“[Shvarts’ exhibit] turns what is a serious decision for women into an absurdism,” Rahman said. “It discounts the gravity of the situation that is abortion.”

CLAY member Jonathan Serrato ’09 said he does not think CLAY has an official response to Schvarts’ exhibition. But personally, Serrato said he found the concept of the senior art project “surprising” and unethical.

“I feel that she’s manipulating life for the benefit of her art, and I definitely don’t support it,” Serrato said. “I think it’s morally wrong.”

Shvarts emphasized that she is not ashamed of her exhibition, and she has become increasingly comfortable discussing her miscarriage experiences with her peers.

“It was a private and personal endeavor, but also a transparent one for the most part,” Shvarts said. “This isn’t something I’ve been hiding.”

The official reception for the Undergraduate Senior Art Show will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 25. The exhibition will be on public display from April 22 to May 1. The art exhibition is set to premiere alongside the projects of other art seniors this Tuesday, April 22 at the gallery of Holcombe T. Green Jr. Hall on Chapel Street.

If you would like to see the original, check it out at the Yale Daily News' Website. I think you will be surprised by the comments in response to this "project."

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

I have been looking forward to this! You?