Now I don’t personally feel that way, although I would never reject a buck or two to cover costs.

You touch on something even beyond commerce and that is “entitlement.” Ever try to talk about that one? Ugh.

“If you support my commitment to art, you should support me.” Translation: money, rides, rent, etc.

Does society have an obligation to support the artist? To pay for art?

Does the artist decide their worthiness?

And you know, art does bring joy to people, or move them, writing as well. We do grow as people for having experienced such things. An artist who creates, mindful of this, seems to have stepped beyond self interest.

Gibney is in one camp; her self-interest is in bringing a cohesiveness to the world so she can better understand & relate to it. I would consider that the noble pursuit, one of perhaps psychological mending, or just something that ‘helps.’

Dater is on the other end of the spectrum; her feelings are so profound she feels the need to share, an incredibly self-centred notion. My declaration, of course, probably does a great disservice to her & to artistry – hers is a sound-bite, & I must believe that there is much more to her interpretation & expression of the world than that (but then, that IS her statement, what she feels her artistry boils down to).

Fletcher straddles the line, trying to outwardly impose cohesiveness on the world; my crumpled gum wrapper is beautiful to me, it represents society & so I will call it art & art it shall be. But I love the question: “What is art?” It isn’t quantifiable – it isn’t based on effort or technical skill, but on concept with a side order of aesthetics. Artwork can be the result of five years or five seconds.

Dawes – now there’s a self-aware, self-indulgent artist. Don’t get me wrong on Dater – I love self-indulgence & am a hedonist at heart. But (in Dater’s explanation anyway) Dater missed including her knowledge that she’s indulgent.

Sturm’s is my favourite & the one I identify with most. I express a great deal of narcissism in that MY view of the world (my ‘reality tunnel,’ as Robert Anton Wilson would say) is so important that I will put my thoughts down on paper & other people will pay for the privilege of reading them. And yet, I am aware that my POV is NOT shared with most, & so I have an opportunity to perhaps teach or enlighten or simply give someone something to think about without grabbing them by the ears & grossing them out by spitting while I talk.

I’d also like to expand on what Renee says. Earning from art is a wonderful thing, but we self-proclaimed artists have no right to expect this. Yes, our work has significant, even overpowering, meaning to us, but the world has no such obligation to acknowledge it. That is the danger of the arts – when the artist begins to consider commerce, the art ALWAYS suffers. Commerce should be a bonus, not the impetus; it has absolutely no place in the equation of why.

The ability to earn from art and writing is about what society values and we have to work to increase the role of the arts.

Nice to see this interview up, and with such a sweet and interesting man!

At Dawn I seemed to crept at last
From Night unbound and free
Loosed not by thought by others penned
Of Nature’s ministry but
By the Soul I came alone to my window’s splintered pane
And loved an autumn tree grown dark
Since Spingtimes greening
There!
Her red and amber leaves touched the bough bent lane
Pointed, painted severed stars caressing clay
And then whirling into a stained glass sun
To leave me breathing there. by Kay Benjamin (written in a Romantic Literature class, University of Missouri, 1970