Hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done.
In earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Thy Will Be Done
In Chester Arnold's art work "Thy Will Be Done," a beautiful and somewhat disturbing image is cast.
Depicted on this oil on canvas masterpiece are people: dead people, drunk people, a few normal people and those in uniform. The people in uniform are talking to each other as if they were in a controlling manner; looking around and pointing to things like the ground and other by standers. The men in uniform While this seems normal the surroundings don’t speak the same. Complete havoc is array and appears as if no enforcement of any kind is into effect. People are laying in the dirt and appear dead. Body bags are being lifted out of the ground while others club their neighbor in the head. A truck in the background is backed up to a hole with what looks like body bags falling out of it. The whole picture just seems wrong and strange.
The title of the art work is a phrase from a very familiar prayer; one of which almost all of us have heard. Some people may even recite this prayer daily. Chester Arnold may have chose this as the title because of his religious background. Why would he use this as his title? “Thy will be done,” could mean a lot of things. It could mean the world is coming to an end. It could mean the people are acting in the state of god. It could also mean that they are just religious. I am not sure why Chester Arnold would choose such a phrase for his title of art work but it has some sort of meaning to him as an artist.
So why would Chester Arnold want to make such a painting? If he wanted the world to know how he was feeling about something couldn’t he just write it in a poem or something? In this case the only way to express this type of feeling would be to paint it; with a meaning. I feel that his message is the result of a chaotic event; one that man created. It’s like things started going to hell and so did everyone else. The people with authority are the ones in control of the situation. In the painting there are a few people carrying bodies and others who look like they are doing something with a purpose; almost like they are being told to do so. It is hard to grasp what they are doing and why? Will they live if they follow commands and protocol?
While observing the art work I noticed a concrete structure being built in the ground. It’s hard to tell exactly what the structure is but looks similar to the foundation of a house. The structure also looks like it is made out of cinder blocks. Did a house use to be there? Is a house being built? What would it be used for? My first thought is that it could be built for the dead bodies in the art work. My other thought is that it used to be a home that was destroyed for whatever reason.
This piece of art work clearly has an underlying meaning that can be described in several different ways. To pick it apart is to have a mind and imagination of your own.
