We can get a perspective on this by considering the long list of cultural myths surrounding artists that is familiar to artists and non- artists alike. Artists must suffer in order to achieve anything of significance.
Artists are emotional, undisciplined and perpetually childish.
The total effect of these myths is to create an on- going hostility between those whose primary occupation is artistic, and those for whom such endeavor is not a central or even peripheral concern. This unfortunate state of affairs seems to me to be a microcosmic mirror of the global cultural upheaval we are presently experiencing. The contemporary dilemma of art is not different from the dilemmas confronting religion, economics, science or world politics. We are all struggling to find the ways to connect with a larger context. In this process, it is necessary to find the proper relationships and correspondences among these presently isolated elements so that the process of healing and re- creating may proceed.