text-based art

The scope of text-based art is pretty incredible. On one hand, this is great! On the other hand, there are just so many things that you could DO! I started thinking about words - how and where they are used - and two things popped up: crossword and word search puzzles. I love both of these things; looking for words, patterns, trying to solve puzzles, trying to “win the game,” and this made me think of Redeemer's theme for the 2009/2010 school year: The Truth Will Set You Free.
Putting two and two together, I thought of searching for the truth and how finding it will set you free, and this is why I decided to create a wordsearch. Wordsearches are like multiple choice tests: all your answers are there you just need to look hard for them to find them, and once you do, you will have great success. The same is true for our lives, God has given us the means to live lives that are honouring to him, lives that will warrant us a place in Heaven with him forever, yet sometimes it is not so clear what we must do or things get in the way and we are distracted. I wanted my wordsearch to express this struggle between the voice of truth and all the other voices that distract us.
To show this, I have hidden the words of John 3:16 in the puzzle at random. I kept the letters of the verse simple and unembellished to portray how the message does not disguise itself in any way but simply is what it is. But, I have embellished all the letters around the words of the verse with bold and dramatic fonts. These other letters represent the distractions that get in the way of our search for the truth. I chose John 3:16 because it is a basic yet profound truth for Christians. This is also a very familiar verse for many Christians - from memory work as a child or what not. And it is such a beautiful verse.
The simple letters of the verse font speaks to me of rigidity and unshakability. The message, the Word of Truth, is like this; it never changes or pretends it is something else, it just stares you in the face until you take it as it is on faith or you push it away and run the other direction. Our lives are filled with metaphorical ‘fun fonts’ – so many cool and crazy things that do a much better job of catching our attention than something like the stuffy, ancient words of the Bible. But all this is part of our calling to search for the Truth. It really comes down to this: if this worsearch was a visual representation of your life, it is absolutely imperative that you find all the words because this will earn you the prize of eternal life. But, if you get distracted by the other fonts, the more exciting and varied fonts and fail to complete the puzzle on time, you will spend eternity in Hell. So this is one wordsearch you want to get right!
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3: 16 NIV)