Then the monsters grow so fat on our fear they no longer need our acknowledgement. They become the monster in the living room that no one talks about. I think artists would better serve themselves and the world at large to maintain an ongoing dialogue with our darker selves and act as interpreters for our fellow humans, who may not be as equipped to handle such dangerous examinations unchaperoned. The ongoing argument over whether life imitates art or vice versa is almost moot. Biologists and Pat Buchanan might have you believe that life could exist without art, but at this stage of human evolution I would beg to differ.
Art is life and at the very least, life can be seen as an art.
As artists we can earn our keep in the community of humankind by showing that while the monsters in the psychic basement may be base and eternal, sometimes they can be reasoned with.