立霧工作坊邀亞洲藝術家 文化交流

圖:來自台灣的藝術家們受邀到明州雙城舉辦藝術講座。左一起:陳雯俐、Darren Tesar(立霧工作坊節目總監)、Flynn(講座主持人)、張恩滿、李若玫、林仁達。(圖片由陳雯俐提供)

記者陳曼玲╱明尼蘇達州報導

來自台灣花蓮的明州藝術家陳雯俐,目前任教於威斯康辛大學,月前策劃邀請六位來自台灣、新加坡、南韓的藝術家,在威斯康辛大學的芙蓉藝廊展覽與座談,與西方藝術家交流,並擴展美國學子對亞洲文化的認識,許多亞裔學生對自己身份認同與台灣政治現況有廣大迴響。

陳雯俐的祖父母是原住民。因為歷經日本殖民統治到戒嚴時期的恐懼,祖母不曾提起自己家族的歷史,直到有學者做調查訪問祖母時,陳雯俐才知道自己不是阿美族,而是噶瑪蘭族後代。陳雯俐說她從小受族人頭目、也是業餘攝影師的祖父影響,耳濡目染喜歡影像、老照片,在學校上美術課時常專心到忘記時間。陳雯俐希望用藝術創作為出口,重新認識面對自己。從淡江俄文系畢業後,她自學設計,從事文案和相關設計工作,三十歲時到英國念設計研究所。

陳雯俐以攝影捕捉生活,面對自己與環境的關係。她藉由處理已「逝去」的照片,追尋殘留在影像中的蛛絲馬跡。她以女性的角度嘗試理解在急遽開發下造成世代交替的台灣,她發現母親那一代的價值觀對她愈來愈抽象,而祖母的原住民傳承幾乎滅絕。但從攝影的經驗與影像的交互輝映,並從族人的老照片裡,陳雯俐挖掘許多個人省思與回憶,以及找到她對台灣女性的認同感。

陳雯俐有感於台灣城鄉差距大,在2014年於花蓮開辦立霧工作坊,推廣藝文活動,給家鄉孩子創作想像的機會。此次以「立霧工作坊」名義邀請三位台灣藝術家,用藝術訴說人與環境的互動。台東出生的張恩滿,展出名為「競技場」的錄像作品。有一半排灣族血統的張恩滿,用藝術關心都會原住民。她以原住民創作為元素,但不消費原住民印象。畢業於台灣藝術大學美術碩士的李若玫展出「藍色研究,尤加利樹」,她細心觀察日常易被忽略的自然事物,找尋與當地歷史文化牽連的記憶風景。出生於高雄,畢業於台南藝術大學的林仁達,展出名為「月台電影」的錄像作品,記錄他把士林捷運站旁的頂樓居所,打造成一座與城市公共空間互動的私人電影院。

陳雯俐喜歡與生活有關的創作。她廣泛閱讀藝術史、哲學等書籍來發展自己的視覺語言。陳雯俐覺得勤能補拙,她說藝術家要找到一個創作時很享受,停不下來的中心點;並在現實與創作之間取得平衡。

This is the war. Day25

I went to two separate kick-off meetings of Mom’s prayer group this year. In the meetings, each mom got to pick a stone to write one attribute about God in red Sharpie pen. The first time, I picked a white stone and I wrote “Victor”. The second time, I picked a black stone and wrote “Mercy”. I look at these two stones and learn a precious lesson.
My heart of sins was like the black stone, atoned by Jesus’ blood of mercy after I confessed all my sins convicted by Holy Spirit. Then my sins were forgiven and I have peace. Then my heart was like the white stone, is being transformed with God’s righteousness and divine nature. Moreover, God equips me with His full armor of Truth, Faith, Salvation, Righteousness, Peace (refer to Ephesians 6: 13-17). And God commands the victory for me.
During the spiritual warfare, I look at myself through God’s view as a victor because the battle belongs to God, who has overcome the world. But when I come to the presence of God, I meditate the miraculous power of God to transform my status of life from a forgiven sinner (the black stone with Mercy) to the victorious saint (the white stone with Victory).
As a result, the humility and love well up from the bottom of my heart when I gaze at the wonderful work God has accomplished in my life through Jesus Christ’s blood.
The Bible says about the woman, who loved Jesus and came to Him, wetting Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair, and kissing His feet. She came because she loved Him. Because she loved, she was not shameful to confess her sins to Him. Therefore, Jesus forgave her many sins and she was saved by believing Jesus with love. The result is that she could go in peace without guilt any more. (refer to Luke 7:44-50)
Pursue loving God with all your heart because there’s no fear in perfect love (refer to 1 John 4:18). Then you will come to Him with confidence (refer to Ephesians 3:12) that He loves you based on your faith to Jesus Christ alone. But if you truly give your heart to love God, remind yourself to run away from the old habits of sins (refer to Jude 23) and revere God’s teaching and discipline (refer to Philippians 2:12).
So I pray: Lord, God, we praise You for sending Jesus Christ to the world, who shed His precious blood to atone for our sins, redeem us from the slavery of sins, forgive our sins, reconcile with Heavenly Father, restore our royal identity as Your child, sanctify us to do Your good work, and protect us from devil’s lies. Please open our eyes to see the wonderful work in your Word. Please fill us with the love of Holy Spirit so that we can love You with all our heart, will, mind and strength to be more than conquerors.

This is the war. Day24

How do you know you have Holy Spirit as a reborn Christian? I asked a lady, Lori, in my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group, who grew up in a Christian family. Her answer is simple but profound to me. She says, “I have Holy Spirit within me because I believe what the Bible says: ‘And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.’ (Ephesians 1:13)”
The action for receiving this promised assurance is: Believe.
After this action, the result will be displaying obviously: We ought to love, have peace, hope and joy. As Pastor John Piper wrote: “’We ought to love each other’ (refer to 1 John 4:11),” he means ought the way fish ought to swim in water and birds ought to fly in the air and living creatures ought to breathe” because “God’s spirit is in us. God’s nature is in us.” (*See note)
Religious people who think they are doing good things to go to heaven make a huge ungodly mistake, which is called self-righteousness. As Pastor John Piper wrote, “It’s one or the other: law-keeping to establish my righteousness or faith alone to rest in His.”
As oil doesn’t mix with water, God-center righteousness is mutually exclusive with human-center righteousness.
Today, turn away from self-center righteousness to God-center righteousness. You will have the assurance of going to heaven through Holy Spirit sealed in you by God’s grace.
So I pray: Lord, God, we thank You for giving us Your righteousness in Jesus Christ through our faith alone. Your unconditional forgiving love only requires our faith to Jesus Christ as Your redemption for our sins. We cannot be more moral or virtuous to earn Your salvation because Jesus Christ alone is our salvation. Jesus Christ’ blood is enough to save the sinners who repent. We praise Your great work has been done victoriously!

This is the war. Day22

Have you seen how the sheep respond to their shepherd? There’s a video on youtube showing people testing the sheep and see how they react to the different voices. It’s a touching moment to see the sheep not only respond to their shepherd but quickly run to him (*see Note1).
Jesus Christ says in the Bible, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
Jesus Christ also says in the Bible, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3)
Where is Jesus Christ now? He says, “But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” (Luke 22:69)
Why can Jesus Christ sit by the side of God? It’s because He, in very nature God, took the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, not a glorious death, but on the shameful cross. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (refer to Philippians 2:6-10)
No matter how powerful idols you are worshiping, they all need to bow down to the only one name approved by God. Therefore, if you think you believe there’s a God but don’t know which religion to go, ask God to show you the true one. If you think you hear God’s voice but not sure, test it by asking if that voice confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. If that voice doesn’t confess Jesus as God, it is not from God. (refer to 1 John 4:2-3)
So I pray: Lord, God, please give us listening ears in our hearts and discernment in our spirits. As Your sheep, we listen to Your truth and obey Your guiding. As a result, we will know who is the true God when You come back to bring us to a better home some day. When the voice of the world tries to lead us astray like a wolf, please provide an escape for us to quickly run to you. When you call us by each of our name, make us happily jump up to follow You without hesitation.
*Song: The shepherd’s voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS-UTKZH4AU

This is the war. Day21

What is prayer? Whom do you pray to? How are you sure there’s someone listening to your prayer?
In Christianity, praying is a two-way conversation, not a monologue. When you pray to God, you are not speaking to the air or throwing out your request to the unknown spiritual power without expecting the answer. First, if you recognize God as your Heavenly Father, you know whom you are talking to. Second, when you talk to God, you are sure He listens because that’s what the Bible says. Third, when you truly pray in Spirit, the result is you will get to know God more and know yourself more. And you will also learn to access the resource in God’s kingdom through the prayer.
The Bible says, “I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1-2, NIV)
Praying is the most precious privilege and authority God gives to the believers who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. Talk to Him at anytime, anyplace, because Jesus Christ has paid all of the cost for you to have the unlimited line with this powerful and loving Father and Creator of the universe.
So I pray: Lord, God, thank You for always listening to us when we humble ourselves and come to You. Thank You for giving this precious privilege for talking to You anything in our mind, pleading to You for what we need, and speaking on behalf of others for their benefit. May You teach us how to pray for knowing You, ourselves, and advancing Your Kingdom through Holy Spirit within us.

This is the war. Day19

A sad but true story happened to a friend’s family: A lady attended a spiritual event and joined the group. She was taught to “be herself” for finding her happiness. Later she was asked for money contribution to the group. However, her husband found out her continuous spending on this purpose so he didn’t allow her to do it anymore. For some reason, she committed a suicide.
It is one of many reasons people may regard religious people or spiritual groups as maniac or lack of rationality.
The Bible says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, ESV)
The false thoughts exist not only in various religions or philosophies, but also in the daily news, books, or gossip from coworkers, etc. Avoiding to have contact with these false thoughts is not an effective way of finding security; learning the truth to filter out the lies is a better solution.
There is a Creator God of this universe knows everything and He is good to always telling the truth. The truth you want to learn is recorded in the Bible, a collection of writings, in which the earliest ones were written nearly 3500 years ago without one word being changed. (*see note)
Do you want to find the wisdom of telling good from evil? Jesus Christ is the way and the truth. Coming to learn from Him is the beginning of wisdom.
So I pray: Lord God, please give us a heart of fearing the true God so that we can learn from Your wisdom. Please teach us when we open the Bible to seek Your guidance and live with peace and discernment in the truth-distorting, levity-mixing, paradox-permeating society.

This is the war. Day18

What is happiness? A mother said she wants her daughter to have smooth life without any trouble. A man said he wants to save all the money he needs for the retirement. Another man said he wants to have a pain-free life with healthy body to the end.
How you define true happiness for your life results in the direction of pursuing it.
If a student wants to be happy with one-time success in the exam, he can memorize the answers for questions within a short time and forget them all after the test. However, we grew up understanding life is not just for one or several tests but a marathon to persevere to run toward to the bigger goal.
What is the ultimate goal for humans from God’s perspective?
The Bible says, “…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)
All the temporary happiness from smooth journey, money, and health will fade away when we walk toward the end of the life. What we can bring to the eternal life is only by knowing who our Creator, Savoir, and Lord is so that we will desire to live forever with Him. The trouble in this life may give us hard time, but it also gives us an opportunity to seek the way out of the doom.
If you are a reborn Christian, your life is truly happier in three ways (*see note):
1. You know all your guilt has been removed because Jesus Christ paid the price of being condemned guilty on the cross.
2. The bitterness permeating in your soul is removed by the power of Jesus Christ and is replaced with joy of praise through Holy Spirit.
3. Your inner life is being transformed by the work of Holy Spirit living within you.
So I pray: Lord, God, a life not given to great things is not worth living. We thank You for risking Your only Son’s life to redeem our lives. May You give us vision and courage to risk our earthly life for pursuing the heavenly greatness. Our aim is not historical influence, but eternal impact. Then, we will press on toward the goal to win the prize You call us to receive.
*Read more from Pastor John Piper’s sharing about happiness and taking risk for life:

This is the war. Day16

Do you find yourself to shun certain people who don’t please you or get in your way because they are like the speck in your eyes? Do you feel justified and empowered by not forgiving certain unfair things or unjust enemies so that you can keep your dignity? You are not alone.
The Bible tells a story about God calling a man, Jonah, to preach to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, because the people were very wicked. Jonah hated the idea because Assyria was the great enemy of his country. Jonah didn’t want to do it and he ran away from God. But God was merciful to reveal Jonah’s sinful motivation so that he repented and dealt with his own sinful motivation. (refer to Jonah 1-4)
What is his sinful motivation?
Jon Bloom wrote: “Self-pity is our sinful, selfish response to something not going the way we think it should.”
Self-pity builds a wall around us to avoid being hurt by other people. It exposes our pride, low self-esteem, self-indulgence, self-righteousness under the disguise of self-protection. Self-pity gives birth to sorrow, shame, fear, depression, gossip, judging, and bitterness, etc. Like all other sins which were like landmines on the way of life, self-pity is a sin needed to be removed before it destroys our life.
What can we do? Once we find ourselves stepping on the landmine of self-pity, cry out for help. Jonah repented his sin to God and was saved. We also can come to Jesus Christ for deliverance because He has crucified our sins on the cross and defused the crisis of death threat.
The Bible says: “Give me aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.” (Psalm 108:12)
Sin is our enemy. The help of man including self-guided improvement is useless. Sin can only be overcome with Jesus Christ’ blood on the cross.
So I pray: Lord, God, please reveal any sins within us because they are life-threating to our souls. Then, please give us confessing hearts to come to Jesus Christ and acknowledge His sacrifice on the cross, which has overcome the death of our sins. With God, we will gain the victory and You will trample down our enemies of sins and devil.

This is the war. Day15

People who don’t believe Jesus Christ might think that the God in Christianity was like a tyrant who cruelly commanded people to follow his rule for his own benefit and didn’t tolerate any gray area outside of his absolute truth.
When we live in another country which speak different language, it’s necessary that we learn their language and culture to communicate with the people there. For our safety and benefit, we also want to obey the law executed by the government from traffic rule to filing tax report, etc.
Therefore, before jumping to the conclusion about the God in Christianity from humans’ perspective, why not ask God to give us His perspective to understand the reason that He expects humans to know Him and communicate with Him?
The Bible says: “If you call out for insight, if you cry aloud for understanding, if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom.” (Proverbs 2:3-6a, NIV)
The result of knowing this God is that “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” (Proverbs 2:9-10, NIV)
Is it contrary to what you thought about a god who wants you to blindly obey him like religious fanatics under hypnosis or programmed robots without free will?
Open the Bible and read it with a heart of looking for answers to your questions. God wants to tell you many good things about your life and His love for you.
So I pray: Lord, God, please forgive us that we often look for treasure in the world, but not in Your words in the Bible. But You promise to lead us to know You when we accept Your words, store up Your commands within us, turn our ears to Your wisdom and search for understanding with all our hearts. Please give us your supernatural perspective to see the grand majestic heavenly view of God in Your words in the Bible.

This is war. Day8

Is cancer bad? A psychiatry doctor in Taiwan, who is also influenced by the New Age Seth Material believes that cancer brings a good opportunity of examining a person’s spiritual status. From his clinical counseling with patients, he discovered that many patients derive cancers from their long-term suppressed emotional and broken spiritual problems. And he argues that it’s more important for patients to build up a healthy spiritual life than merely recovering from cancer because when the cancer relapses, the patients may be dreadful for going through the painful process again.
This doctor also thinks humans may have more peace facing the end of their life if they believe that souls still exist without the dead physical bodies rather than vanishing in the universe. He thinks that even a soul going to hell is still better than disappearing.
This is a fallacy of distraction. If the hell is not a horrible place for a soul, why did Jesus Christ need to die on the cross to save the souls from going to hell? And why should we care about whether our soul still exist or not after death? And who is Jesus Christ? He is a real man in the history and there are hundreds of prophesies about Him that He came to fulfill (see the following link).
This doctor said that he seems to touch the God of destiny and sees the blueprint of Wisdom behind a soul through counseling his patients. But without further asking who this God is, he still hasn’t seen the true God.
“Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” (refer to Hebrews 3:15)
So I pray: Lord, God, no one can come to You unless You draw us. Please be merciful to us and open our eyes to see Your fingerprint is everywhere in the history and our lives.