Society celebrates the artist as a unique figure separate from the mundane rhythms of everyday life.
This general phenomenon is joined by a related but more specific one, namely the profusion of amateur poets, poetry slams and open-mike nights. Central to these events is their populist inflection. The common man and common woman with day jobs and who are not personal friends of the muse find in the slam or open-mike night a public forum and an appreciative audience for their work. It is also significant that many slams and open-mike nights are held in bars, or, in other words, outside of socially sanctioned locations for the presentation of art, e.g., museums and theaters. This combination of populism and 'outsider' status represents a critical commentary on the dominant way cultural and aesthetic meaning is produced in society.