The Pontiac Aztek is widely recognized to be one of the great design failures in automotive history. It represented the disastrous results when function steamrolls form and no attention is given to aesthetic appeal or organic unity. Bob Lutz, the renown automobile executive, came to work at GM after the Aztek debacle. In this recent […]
aesthetics
Would you rather be a great artist or a commercially successful one?
This weekend the latest Transformers movie was released. As one might expect, the film was mercilessly panned by critics even as it is packing the local Cineplex and knocking on the door of a one hundred million dollar box office weekend. In other words, this critical turd appears to be the common man’s ideal night […]
Is “God’s not Dead” a modern classic?
Over the last two days I have receive some substantial backlash for my criticism of the current domineering popularity of middling superhero movies at the box office. The primary charge seems to have been that I am elitist in my opinions. But there is an ironic twist to this story. After some discussion with my two […]
Does theology make God ugly?
My podcast interview with theologian Oliver Crisp on Christology drew several interesting responses. Was Jesus the best at everything? For example, Fox observed: “If Christ were a barista, would he have made the best doppio ristretto possible? Oliver Crisp imagines so.” I addressed this similar point in my essay “Can Jesus make a better Caesar […]
Living artwork over the plains of Texas
If you haven’t seen this time-lapse video of a supercell storm over the Texas plains you should definitely check it out. And since I’d be remiss not to include a theological or philosophical angle, isn’t it interesting how many of the most beautiful entities (structures, processes, etc) in nature yield the greatest destruction?
Vomit flavored jelly beans and other offenses to the natural order
As I noted last time, people disagree radically on their conceptions of what it means to flourish. To some people, flourishing would mean growing old and full of years. But Roger Daltrey (lead singer of The Who) hoped he’d die before he gets old (see the lyrics for “My Generation” for further clarification). And as for Eric […]
