Art And Money Are The Same *GASP*

My friend Prince just tweeted this, an academic paper abstract discussing art and money. It says there is no inherent conflict with artists making money, with commerce in art.

Phew.

I was worried. The "starving artist" image still persists, but I've never gotten it. I thought maybe I was backwards.

Maybe I'm lucky because what I create has as its purpose human connection. It's hard in today's world, especially in capitalism, to connect without the sordid topic of coin coming into play. But it's all about stories, languages. Money is just talking. So is art. Why would they conflict?

The key for us all is to remember it's about people, about humanity, about culture, about creativity. How we connect is fundamentally unimportant, invisible in fact, if we communicate effectively and efficiently. A painting by Van Gogh still says what it always has, but people perceive it differently. Owning stock in a company still says what it always has, really, but people perceive it differently as well.

Think about it. What is the difference between taking your Life, working, earning money, and going and buying a taco & taking your Life, working, painting records, and going and buying a taco? Art and money are the medium for communicating one's humanity.

The rub, I think, happens when commerce is allowed to commoditize, flatten, and homogenize creativity. The fix is to re-humanize our economy, remember people. All of them. All of them involved in creating everything we have in this Universe. At its core, it's all expression, unfoldment of Life. It's all connected, with ripples of communication spreading, reflecting across humanity.

What do you think the current global economic upheaval is about? Right. Art.

Peace.

SOLD - Elton John 06/11/09